Blinding Twilight
by sTaRfIrExrObIn
Summary: When rich Kori Anders moves to Jump City after her parents' death,she discovers love at first sight with the infamous Richard Grayson.But as she gets closer to him,she discovers a new side of him...a secret identity that will change EVERYTHING.RS
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS OR TWILIGHT.**

* * *

School. What a perfect way to start the day. At least that's what some people say.

Earlier this morning I had stood in front of my mirror for what seemed like hours, examining myself. The auburn-haired girl with odd tan skin and unusual jade eyes was staring back at me as I smoothened out the simple Paris Blue jeans I had decided to wear along with the plain white tank top and a vintage belt with matching bohemian slippers. I hoped I was not overdressed.

As I walked through the crowded halls on my new campus, I knew I would not be welcomed right away. Students I had seen before and asked questions to were nice people, but not exactly the type of friends I had been looking forward to having in Jump City; I didn't really want to plan on spending my all my free time on the computer playing video games with rib-high plaid pants and huge glasses like…them. Their whole group seemed like the overly friendly type; way too eager to let me join their group.

I walked confusedly in the same direction, struggling to find their administrative office. After a few moments of looking like a total idiot, I reached the first desk I could find, which was being manned by a thin red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a pinstripe suit and a string of bohemian beads, which immediately gave me the hint that I was clearly underdressed for the debonair inhabitants of this school.

Don't get me wrong- I was rich, but just the _way_ I inherited all my parents' fortune was already mysterious. Our family business was very well known in the bustling streets of New York City, K&K Industries. It wasn't until my parents were found murdered viciously when the allegations toward my remaining family members had begun. My clearest memory of it was being interrogated at the age of five. With my sister, Koma, and her well-known reputation for being a notorious rebel in the family tree starting at such a young age, the fortune had been passed to me for- who knows what reason? And after that phone call, my sister was never to be seen again; I was devastated to learn that she had run away.

The red-haired woman looked up at me as I shook myself out of my thoughts. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Kori Anders," I informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light in her eyes. I was expected; obviously a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of K&K's owners, who had just celebrated her seventeenth birthday, lonely as usual, on a private island off the coast of Europe, has decided to reside in the famous Jump City.

"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule and a map of the school right here for you, dear." She brought several sheets to the counter to show me.

She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best routes on the map; I never realized what a big school this was. She also handed me a slip that each teacher for each of my classes had to sign; did she think that I would ditch school on my first day? She smiled at me and hoped, like my guardian Galfore, that I would like it here in Jump. I tried to smile back as convincingly as I could.

The classroom was much bigger than I expected. I was so used to being squished in with the other wealthy New York kids in a tight and practically suffocating classroom, but the spacious room kept me marveling.

I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Merlin Tad. I tried my hardest not to laugh at his name. He gawked at me when I said mine though- not an encouraging response- and of course I flushed tomato red. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me where I was seated at the back of the classroom, but somehow they managed to keep me even more self-conscious than I already was with their piercing stares.

When the bell, an easily irritable buzzing sound, rang, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair as slick as oil came up to me.

"You're Kori Anders, aren't you?" Another chess club type.

I smiled friendlily as I could. "Yeah. Nice to meet you…"

"Tyler," he said to me, extending his hand out. I was almost afraid to touch the poor boy's sweaty palms. Trying my hardest not to cringe, I shook his hand quickly and let go.

"Where your next class?" he asked.

I had to check my bag. "Um, Advanced Calculus with Maynard, in building six."

There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes. I could have sworn people were walking behind me close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.

We walked to the large classroom in silence. "Um, thanks," I said; I just wanted him to go away…

Awkwardly, he looked at me and ran towards another direction, making his way in a large circle of- guess- nerds. I sighed. More rumors.

The rest of the next two periods passed in about the same fashion. Many of the people I had seen in my first period had the same classes with me, and I was lucky enough to make new friends with a dark Goth, which was pretty odd, I thought to myself, and a green-haired teen who looked young enough to be in the eighth grade instead of the eleventh. The Goth was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her beautiful violet hair and eyes compensated with beauty for her lack of height.

We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends during lunch, which she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as she spoke about them to me. They all seemed rich, mainly all of them good-looking, far more than I could imagine myself being. The green one's sense of humor seemed to make me giggle out of my seat though, and I later learned his name, Garfield.

It was there, in the large lunchroom, which was big enough to be mistaken for a ballroom, where I saw them. They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away as I sat as possible in the large room. They were talking and laughing amongst themselves, and they weren't gawking at me like many of the other students I had met, so it was safe to stare at them with my curious eyes.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one of them was big and muscled like a serious weight lifter, with chocolate brown skin. Another was taller and leaner, his face looking like it had been sculpted by Da Vinci himself, and the last, the one with jet black hair, was more boyish than the others, who looked like they should have been in college rather than eating lunch during junior lunch period.

The girls were opposites. The first one was a blonde, her long hair gently waving to the middle of her back, thin in the extreme. The tall one was statuesque. She had had a beautiful figure, the kind you would see on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and her red hair was almost the same tone as mine. The short girl was pixielike, her hair colored in the oddest shade of pink, yet she seemed naturally attractive in a shade so different. Her gray skin-tone made her stand out, aside from the Goth, Raven, and her pink catlike eyes were mystifying.

But this was not why I could not look away.

I stared because their faces, so different but yet so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful- maybe the perfect redheaded girl, or the striking black-haired boy.

"Who are _they_?" I asked Raven, as she was chatting away with- what was his name? - Oh yes, Garth.

As she looked away slowly to see who I meant- though she probably knew from my amazed tone- suddenly the black-haired boy looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his distinctable sea blue eyes flickered to me.

He looked away quickly though, and I dropped my gaze immediately as I started to blush, my auburn-colored hair getting in the way of my emerald green eyes. Raven rolled her eyes with a knowing smile.

"That's Richard Grayson and Xavier Red. The other one is Victor Stone, and the tall girl is Barbara Gordon, the blonde is Terra Markov, and the pink-haired one is Jinx." She managed to say this under her breath. I never knew Goths could be so talkative.

She shrugged nonchalantly as I continued to stare at the black-haired boy with my full attention. I tapped her shoulder; I could sense a sign of impatience from her.

"I'm sorry to bug you again, but which one is the black-haired boy? I'm, uh…just curious." I never was a good liar; sarcasm was always my best trait. I continued to peek at him through the corner of my eye, and he too was still staring at me- though with a slightly frustrated expression. I couldn't imagine why.

"That's Richard Grayson, he's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him," she sniffed. I wonder when he'd turned her down.

He left, and when he did, I found myself confused and disappointed- _confused_ because I was _disappointed_.

First days are first days.

"Richard Grayson," I murmured softly under my breath. I heard giggles softly making its way in one ear and out the other.

* * *

When I entered my next class, almost all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center table I recognized Richard Grayson by his unique blue eyes, sitting next to that single open seat.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher to get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face- it was furious and hostile. I looked away quickly, shocked and going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of table. I noticed that his eyes darkened as he glared at me. What had I done wrong? I had been in this school for only a couple of hours and I'd already made a new enemy.

Mr. Barnes signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along pretty well. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the empty seat in the center of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by _him_, still bewildered by the frightening antagonistic stare he had sent me just a few moments ago.

I didn't look up from my book as I sat down and began to read, but I saw the way he was sitting from a quick glance at him. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and avertingly avoiding my eyes. I made my red hair fall down on my shoulder, creating a wall between us.

I couldn't stop myself from taking a couple of peeks at him through the screen of my hair. He never really relaxed from his stiff position. I could see the hand on his desk was scrunched into a tight fist, his knuckles turning white practically. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his fair skin.

This particular class seemed to be longer than my others. Was it because I was waiting for him to unclench his fist, or for him to stop looking like that at me? He never did loosen up; his handsomely chiseled features remained grim throughout the whole class period. I began to question Raven's bitterness towards him. Maybe she was right…

Peeking up at him, promising myself that this would be my last, I instantly regretted it, because there he was, glaring back at me. I nearly jumped out of my seat from the intensity of his glare. I flinched away from, sinking as low as I could in my chair.

The bell rang soon after that, and he was out of his seat and walking away from the classroom before anyone else was. He was a lot taller than I thought him to be.

I sat still in my chair, not daring to move even though he was gone already. This wasn't fair. I didn't remember even speaking to him. And this was my first day. So why he acting so…_mean_ to me?

I stood up and out of my chair to find myself facing a red-haired teen smiling at me warmly.

"Aren't you Korina Anders?"

"Kori," I corrected, returning his smile with a grin of my own.

"I'm Roy."

"Hi, Roy."

"Do you need any help finding your next class?"

"Um, I'm headed for Gym; I think I can find it."

He suddenly looked thrilled. "That's my next class, too."

We walked to class together; he seemed like a better person to have a conversation with than the other people I had met today.

But as we entered the gym, he asked, "So…what'd you do to Richard Grayson? I've never seen him act like that before."

I cringed at the thought, his piercing glare towards me replaying over and over again in my head. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed his…odd behavior. I pretended to act dumb.

"Was that the boy I was sitting by in Biology?" I asked warily, trying to sound convincing.

"Yeah; he looked like he was in pain or something."

"I don't know, really. I've never spoken to him." I smiled and then exchanged goodbyes as I parted with Roy.

By the end of gym, practically my whole body was sore. I walked into the office to return the signed slip to the secretary, only to find _him_ again; he didn't seem to notice my arrival. He was arguing with the receptionist in a fierce voice. Straining my ears beyond their hearing capacity to listen to his argument, my eyes widened as soon as I heard him argue. He wanted to trade from sixth period biology to another time- any other time but that.

This whole thing was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the room, anything else. But to my dismay, the entrance opened again and this time he noticed the sound of the wind coming through the open door. His back stiffened as he slowly turned to glare at me- though I found his face absurdly attractive as he did this- with his gorgeous blue eyes filling up with hate and a stony cold aura darkening around his pupils.

"Uh, never mind then. Thanks for trying," he called out hastily as he ran out the door.

I made my way slowly to the desk, my face now meek as it turned as white as a sheet of paper instead of red for once. Handing the slip to the woman, I got lost in my thoughts, not even noticing later that she been asking me how I liked my first day at the school. I tried to smile back with all the sincerity I had left in me, but she didn't look the least bit convinced.

Storming out of the school, I passed Richard Grayson, not even caring as he stared after me as he leaned on a black Mercedes. The sleek and silver Volvo truck Galfore had gotten me as a welcoming present was only about two cars away from the one Richard was leaning against.

Roughly forcing the key into the engine, I tried to fight back the tears that had begun to well up in the corners of my eyes- just as long as he was out of sight before I cried. My foot stomped on the pedal furiously, but as I was driving away, it was either I was hallucinating or what I saw was real, because it seemed to me that Richard Grayson was sighing of relief. And then the first tear fell.

I officially hated Jump City.

**

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A/N: Yes, another story. Sorry if this chapter went by a little bit slow, I wasn't really counting on putting in a lot of excitement for the first chapter.**

**So…Richard Grayson seems to dislike Kori Anders. Don't worry, there's a reason; don't think that he just looked at her and decided he had something against her. Review please!**

_**Also, a preview of the second chapter:**_

"_Is Richard Grayson staring at…you?"_

"_Huh?"_

_Tucking my hair behind my ear to give myself a good look at him, I felt my long lashes brush against my skin nervously. At that precise moment, his blue eyes flashed over to meet mine._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Just a forewarning: A lot of the characters in this story don't act how they are usually portrayed on the show. In short, total OOCness. **

* * *

**_KORI_ **

The next day was better…and in a way, worse.

It was better because I knew what to expect of my day; having it full of surprises like yesterday had been overwhelming. I began to remember the familiar faces introduced to me, and I began to feel like I actually fit in. Jump City reminded me of the hot and humid days I used to spend in New York, and sunny weather helped me with my optimistic personality; rainy days almost always got me depressed for the day.

It was worse because I felt tired; I couldn't get used to sleeping in a cold mansion without knowing that Galfore was on his guard on the other side of the manor; he had gone on a business trip to Florence, Italy. It was miserable because I was asleep when Mrs. Maynard called on me and I didn't have any idea what she had been talking about the whole period. It was worse because the one time the basketball got passed to me, I ended up almost hitting my teammate's head. And it was worse because Richard Grayson wasn't at school during my first whole month of school

I had been dreading all the classes I had with him because of his frightening glares. A part of my conscience had been pushing me to confront him and demand what his problem with me was, and the other side was no help; I kept myself up every night trying to think ways to approach him without running off like a coward.

Every lunch, I surprisingly found myself sweeping my eyes in every direction of the cafeteria, searching for him from every table to every corner in the room. I would see his five friends sitting at their table, but again, no Richard.

I had to admit though, I was secretly relieved to have the small table to myself; I don't think I would have been able to survive another one of Richard's glares. He. Was. Absent. I told myself those words repeatedly, but somehow I still found myself disappointed. But I couldn't get the nagging idea out of my mind that the reason he wasn't here was because of me. I didn't know I could even have that kind of effect on anybody; especially anybody who looked as striking as him. Five weeks had gone by and I had no idea of his whereabouts.

I found myself getting even more and more intrigued by all the robberies and crimes in this pleasant city; a city so talked about such as this was a place I didn't expect to hear any crimes from. The first time I had watched the news, a team of thieves stole a valuable jewel. And then the next time I watched, the same team was suspected of assassinating some poor banker!

I soon began to fall asleep soundly, getting used to Galfore going around the world frequently; the moonlit skies had invited me to sleep outdoors on the roof. I thought I felt a presence just before my eyes had closed, but nothing except a rustling in the trees was heard. Maybe I was just dreaming.

* * *

It was a Monday when I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Raven after Spanish. The summer rained storms had refused to stop, so we had no choice but to sit indoors. I hated the rain. I think I had mentioned this to Raven at least a million times during my first month in school.

Loud music boomed from the surround-sound speakers, but that was not what made my heart stop. I froze where I stood. There were six people sitting at the table.

Raven pulled on my arm anxiously; scowling with her impatience.

"Kori? What are you-"

I hid my face behind my hair as I did the other day. She raised her eyebrows in awe, finally realizing why I had paused so abruptly.

"Is Richard Grayson staring at…_you_?"

"Huh?"

Tucking my hair behind my ear to give myself a good look at him, I felt my long lashes brush against my skin nervously. At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.

I dropped my head once more, letting my hair conceal my face. In the instant that our eyes met, I was positive there was no resentment or tension between us…not like the last time. He looked merely curious again, as if he was unsatisfied with something.

"Wow," Raven muttered in her usual monotone voice, "He's still staring at you."

"He…he doesn't look…angry now, does he?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Is he supposed to be? I've never seen you guys talk before."

I shivered, remembering what had happened the last time. "I don't think he really likes me."

"Oh God, Kori. Their whole table doesn't like anybody…well, they don't notice anybody enough to actually like them. They act like they're the richest kids in the world…especially that…anorexic blonde," she spat out distastefully as we sat down at our usual table. I could tell she was trying to sound as civilized as she could at that moment.

"You don't seem to like her very much," I observed carefully as I watched her glare daggers at the thin fair-haired girl.

"Are you kidding me? If I could I would strangle her to death. It's too bad things like that aren't my choices to make." She paused to sip her tea. "You know, he's still staring at you."

"Then stop looking at him!" I hissed loudly. I thought I heard a snicker come from her.

For the rest of the lunch period I decided to strictly keep my eyes at my own table. It was hard, I would admit, but I managed to survive. I stalked hastily to my classroom afterwards, afraid of running into him again. But when I arrived, he was already sitting there, sending me a soft look that sent chills down my spine; his eyes were warm, as if he were waiting for me.

I felt myself awkwardly set my things down on the table that we shared, careful to keep my distance from him and his…_really_ bad temper. As class began to start, I kept my eyes away from his direction, doodling quietly in my seat, staying focused on the pattern that I was drawing.

"Hey," said a breezy and cool voice.

I looked up, stunned that he was even speaking to me. His disheveled hair was mangled slightly and his angelic eyes stared down at me; they were almost…intimidating.

"Hi," I answered back shyly, unable to function. Oh God, what if he thought I was mentally incompetent, considering the way I had been acting around him? Mr. Barnes chose to start class at that moment, and I went back to doodling on my notebook again.

"It's too bad about the rain, isn't it?"

I turned my gaze slightly away from my scribbled on notebook, having the sudden feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me.

"Not really," I said in a low voice, being honest about what I felt for once.

"You don't like storms." He didn't really state this as a question.

"Or the winds."

"Jump City must be a hard place for you to live in then."

"You have no idea," I muttered under my breath darkly.

He looked rather fascinated by what I just said, for some strange reason I couldn't imagine. His face was very distracting; I couldn't help but steal another glance at it.

"Why'd you come here then?"

Not even Raven asked me that as forward as he just had. It almost seemed demanding.

"It's…complicated. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it in the tabloids."

"I think I can keep up," he pressed. He flashed me a crooked grin, forcing me to melt on the floor.

I paused for a moment. I hardly knew him, and I was actually considering telling him my story of what happened only months ago.

"My sister ran away."

"That doesn't sound that complex," he disagreed. The look on his face made me the tiniest bit suspicious of him. "When did that happen?"

"Just five months ago." My high-pitched voice sounded sad, even to me.

"And you miss her," Richard surmised, his tone still the slightest bit stiff.

"No." The sudden anger in tone of voice surprised me. "And I don't think she misses me either."

"Then…then why do you sound so glum?"

I couldn't unravel the reason why he was suddenly so interested in my horrible life, but he continued to stare at me with penetrating eyes, as if my dull story was actually important.

"My parents…th-they just…died. They were found dead in the parking lot," I whispered as tears began to well up in my eyes. This would be the first time I retold any of my experience to anybody. Suddenly I didn't feel like telling Richard all of this anymore.

His heavenly blue eyes stared back at me, but this time they were clouded with the sincerest sympathy I had seen since the horrible death of my parents.

"And now you're…unhappy," he pointed out.

"And?" I challenged.

"My parents died too. It just doesn't seem fair." His eyes still bore into my emerald orbs intensely, making me feel like he had backed me into a corner.

I laughed dryly. "Hasn't anybody told you? Life is _never_ fair."

"I think everybody knows that phrase," he agreed dryly with sarcasm in his tone.

"So that's all," I insisted, wanting very badly for this conversation to stop. _Why_ was he still staring at me that way? Actually, why was he staring at me at _all_?

His look towards me became sly. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I bet you're suffering more than you let anyone else see."

"Am I wrong?" he asked after a few moments of my silence.

I tried to resist the sudden impulse to stick my tongue out at him like a little five-year old. Trust me when I say that I tried my hardest. I tried desperately to ignore him.

"I didn't think so," he said smugly.

"What does it matter to _you_?" I asked irritated.

"That's a very good question," he muttered to himself. It was so soft that I couldn't tell if that was directed towards me or if he was talking to himself. However, after a few seconds of stillness, I turned my attention back to Mr. Barnes.

"Am I annoying you?" he asked. He sounded amused.

I glanced at him again without thinking. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read- my uncle can always make out what I'm thinking."

"On the contrary, I find you very…difficult to read." Despite everything that I'd said and he'd guessed, he sounded like he really meant it.

Silence filled the air, and I wondered if we were ever going to get through this awkward phase we kept going through. The bell rang, thank goodness for that, and I felt relieved to get out of his sight. I walked to my truck, dazed as I went. What was up with him and our last encounter? Never mind, I didn't want to know the answer to that question.

A summer storm was getting ready to pour. I zipped up my jacket and tucked my long hair into my hood. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Richard Grayson was leaning against the front door of a large Hummer, three cars down from me, and staring intently towards my direction. Swiftly avoiding his direct gaze, I threw my Volvo in reverse, almost hitting the rusty Toyota behind me in my haste. Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on my break just in time. It was just the sort of car my truck would scrape the metal off of. Cautiously taking a deep breath, I pulled out slowly, and this time with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the sports car, but as I threw a glance towards him from the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw him laughing.

* * *

**A/N: Was it okay? **

**Someone asked me if this was going to be all vampire-ish like the book Twilight. No, I have my own plot thought up for this fic, so stop asking me that.**


	3. Chapter 3

I groggily opened my eyes from my sleep; something was…different. I could feel it.

The sun almost blinded me when I pushed open my curtains, and I could have sworn that it was already at least a hundred degrees at only seven o'clock in the morning. I realized that there were no birds chirping this morning.

I walked out to my balcony only to usher myself back in after a couple of seconds; this much heat always got me dehydrated. I begged Galfore to let me stay home from school, but the man insisted that I go for my own good; I knew he only meant the best for me.

A maid came in and brought my breakfast in to me. I observed her silently as she set my tray down beside me; she looked too young to be a maid. She looked close to my age; I noted to myself that she was new here. I noticed something fizzing in my milk, but my sudden thirst made me quickly shrug it off. It was probably just some left over soap.

Stumbling out to my garden, I found myself already getting dizzy from the heat. My flower garden was one of the only things I really cared much about, and watering it had become my daily priority since I was ten. I must have looked really bad at that moment because the maids kept on begging me to go back inside. I insisted on staying outside; it wasn't going to take that long anyway.

It took every ounce of my concentration to walk to my truck; I probably looked drunk to my bewildered neighbors because the looks on their faces as I stumbled every step of the way made it seem like they were embarrassed for me. Their whispers didn't help either; I was already ten minutes late to school.

Driving to school, I could almost feel my consciousness slip away from me. I did everything I could to wake myself up. I turned up my stereos until the whole street could hear my music booming from the speakers, I began to talk to myself frantically, and I tried to keep my thoughts on Richard. But it didn't take long until I found myself slumped against the steering wheel.

"Come' on Kori; only a few blocks till you reach…the school… Ughh…"

_I couldn't even hear myself talking._ I could feel my sweat drip down my forehead. Trying to prop myself up as I pressed my arms against the steering wheel with all my strength, the only noise I could hear were honking horns and really, _really_ loud yelling.

Suddenly, I wasn't dizzy anymore. Struggling to fight back the realization of what I was now going through, it didn't help much when I heard the oddest sound. It was a high-pitched screech, and it quickly became painfully loud. I looked up surprisingly fast, startled at what I saw.

There, just a few blocks away from me, was a car going at a fast speed. And it was coming for my direction. Crap.

I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion like it does in the movies, X'hal; it was going anything but slow motion. Instead, I could feel the blood rushing through my veins and the adrenaline rush seemed to make everything in clear detail as I absorbed everything around me at once.

There Richard was again, but this time, he wasn't leaning against his car. His face stood alone on the sidewalk until everybody else came out of their cars and office buildings. He looked so confused; I took the time to wonder why. The way he looked during that split second was like he was trying to make a choice, a big choice in a short amount of time. He continued to look up at the window, but everything was already in such a blur that I couldn't make out who or what he kept looking up at. His body was cautiously stiff, as if he didn't know which direction to go, but he got me terribly confused when I saw him running fast towards my direction. I turned my face away from his figure when I remembered the importance of the white van coming at me. I was going to die, I just knew it, and I didn't even have time to close my eyes for the impact.

I spotted a form dash quickly towards me; it was Richard, and he was almost there. Just before I heard the two vehicles crunch against each other, it was seconds later when I realized that I was out of the truck and lying down o the hot pavement. My head cracked against the asphalt road hard, and my brain was spinning out of control as I felt myself being pinned down by something. I blinked and felt my body pressed against someone else's.

It was silent until the screaming began. Numerous shouts of my name echoed softly in my ear, each one of them sounding slurred, but a voice was clearer to me than all the yelling.

"Kori? Kori, are you alright?" came Richard's frantic voice in my ear.

I groaned as I tried to sit up, but then lay myself back down when I realized a few seconds later, that the heat had drained out all my energy.

"I…I think I'm okay."

He was holding me against his toned chest with an iron grasp, and I tried desperately to wriggle out of his clasp on me.

"Be careful," he warned as I continued to struggle. "You hit you head pretty hard against the road."

I became aware of the throbbing pain against my temples.

"Ow," I whined.

He chuckled. "That's what I thought."

"What are you laughing about? And why…" I trailed off, trying to observe my surroundings as I spoke.

I looked around to find chaos all over the streets. Teachers came bursting out of the large school while adults began frantically pulling out their cell phones, calling for help. Students peered frightfully out the classroom windows, and that's when I saw them- Barbara Gordon, Victor, Xavier, Terra, and Jinx.

Their stony faces were colder than usual, and I felt their eyes on me, but with different looks and thoughts in each of their eyes. Xavier looked as though he had not eaten in days; his infatuated eyes gazed at me with a hungry lust, and that was not something that made me feel comfortable. Terra and Jinx looked furious with…Richard? Their gazes were no longer focused on me, but on Richard. Victor looked uncertain about something, but that was not even close to what frightened me the most. The angriest one was the redhead, Barbara. Her eyes looked like they were about to burst as they flamed up in a fiery haste, and her hands were rolled up into a fist. There was something about her that made me think that this had to do with Richard, because when Richard turned his head to follow my frightened gaze, he returned the glare with one of his own. His face was furious than I had ever seen him; I could hear his jaw tighten, and soon the redhead and the rest of her friends walked away from the window.

"Did…did I do something wrong? Was I…" I felt my voice fade away into the crowd's chaos once again as I tried to clear my head when a question began to haunt me. "Why did you…how did you…"

"Spit it out, Kori." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.

But I continued to look at him, still frightened and confused. "Why were you the only student out here when the accident happened? Everybody else was in class already, the streets were bare, and I could've sworn that you were out here like you were waiting for something-"

"There were other people out here, Kori." His voice was a hard as steel, and colder than ever.

"No, I'm sure everyone else was inside; you were the only one out h-"

I jumped as I felt my body being suddenly lifted up and laid down on a stretcher. After being ran wildly towards the ambulance, the EMTs left me alone in the back with Richard.

There was a flurry of activity outside the streets. It took us a while before we could get out of the mess. I tried to get up and peer out the small ambulance window, but Richard's warm hands pushed my shoulder back down.

"Don't move; we still don't know what kind of injuries you've gotten yet."

"But-"

"No," he laughed softly. "Stay put for now."

"You were the only person out there on the streets. I saw you from the last street," I argued, suddenly remembering our dispute, and soon his chuckle stopped short. "The look on your face, you were waiting."

His expression turned hard. "No, I wasn't."

"But I saw you!"

"Kori, you don't know what you're talking about. For Christ's sakes, you probably have a freaking concussion! There were other people out there, and I was waiting for Bruce to drop something off for me." His eyes suddenly darkened in anger, as if he was trying to communicate something crucial and top secret to me.

"No. I don't believe you." I set my jaw.

His eyes pleaded for me to go with what he was telling me. "Kori, please. Believe me."

"Why?" I demanded in a feisty tone.

"You…you have to trust me with this," he begged of me, his voice now sounding overwhelmed with what I was asking him.

"But…with what?" I sighed. "You have to explain everything later, promise?"

"Fine," he snapped angrily.

"Fine," I mimicked. I thought I saw a smirk form on his face, but a few minutes later, an EMT climbed over the front seat and into the back of the ambulance. The last I saw was a syringe injecting something in my arm and Richard's hand placed over mine.

**-KRKRKRKRKRKRKRKR-**

"Kori!"

I stirred and it took me awhile before anything could register in my head.

"Galfore! You're here!"

Galfore rushed into my room and towards my direction, where I lay in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around my stomach and head.

"Oh Koriand'r, please forgive me. If I had known-"

"All is forgiven Galfore," I said softly as I hugged him. "There's nothing wrong with me."

He smiled but walked out hastily in hopes of finding my doctor for a good explanation. I sat up straight to find Richard sleeping with his head in his arms on my bed. I didn't want to wake him up just yet, but I was sure as hell going to get a good explanation from him of what happened at the scene of the accident. Images suddenly ran through my head, different thoughts churning until I thought I would make myself throw up. I shivered at the flashing image of Barbara's gaze…

And then it was sooner than I realized that they were just outside my room, sitting in the chairs by the secretary's desk. They sat there, looking on where they were with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury, but they somehow held no hint of concern for their friend's safety. Of course Bruce Wayne was there, but instead of getting all frantic like the rest of the adults that had to be ushered down to the hospital lobby on the first floor, he played it cool and just discussed Richard's condition with the doctors.

Roy, I learned later, had driven the car that had crashed into me. It was my unlucky misfortune to be sharing the hospital room with him, with merely a curtain to separate us, because all day long the only thing I could hear from him were apologies. I almost clapped when I later realized that he had fallen asleep.

But when Richard woke up, the questions never stopped.

"You owe me an explanation," I nagged for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I saved your life- I owe you nothing."

I winced at the resentment in his voice as he walked to the opposite side of the wall, turning his back against me.

"I just want to know why…." I reasoned out. "Why are you making me lie for you? Why did your friends look so angry…so angry with _me_? You were alone; there was no one there and I was positive that you looked uncertain about something…you promised."

He exhaled deeply with his body still turned away from me, and his tone was cold. "You hit your head. You don't even know what you're talking about."

"You promised," I said again.

"What did you see then?"

"I saw you, alone in the streets. You kept on looking up at the building and at my truck, and you looked so confused, and then even if I was about a block away, you were already running for my truck! And you were- you were just waiting! It was almost as if you knew something like this was going to…happen…"

My eyes widened. "Did you know about this?"

He turned and faced me, staring me down incredulously, his face still tense and defensive. "What are you trying to say? That I'm psychic or something?" Obviously he was questioning my sanity.

I merely nodded, clenching my jaw tight.

"Well, have fun wasting your time with that little theory of yours then."

We scowled at each other in silence. I was positive; I wasn't going to let him persuade myself into thinking I was just some crazy patient making this all up. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused on things other than his face.

"Why did you even bother?" I asked frigidly.

He paused, and for a brief moment his face was unexpectedly vulnerable. This was the first time I had ever seen him look so weak.

"I don't know," he whispered weakly, and then he turned away.

Stunned at his answer, I threw my legs over the side of the bed, hopping down quickly. Too quickly. I would've gotten even more injuries if Richard hadn't rushed to my aid as I went falling down towards the hard tiled floor. I shrugged his arm away and soon Galfore came in to tell me that I was able to go home.

When we arrived to the manor, I went straight up to my room and filled my bathtub with bubbles. I was frustrated. What did he mean "he didn't know"? I was so consumed by the mysterious state Richard presented himself in, that I didn't notice how pruned my skin had become from spending two hours in the bathtub.

I decided I might as well go to sleep early that night. Galfore continued to apologize profusely, and I soon had to unplug my telephone cord because I was tired of being harassed by Roy's apologies. The pain in my head was still unbearable, but I resisted my urge to take Tylenol. The pain eased soon enough, and I drifted off to sleep with thoughts of Richard Grayson in my dreams.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter! I'm glad most of you liked how the story was going so far. Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

In my dream I was running on a very dark and dim path; the only light there looked miles away, and its bright aura seemed to be the only thing lighting up the place I was in. I found myself getting closer and closer to the light, and as I did it appeared to be a lamppost- a very _old_ lamppost. Spiders had spun cobwebs and dust covered its glass walls so that the radiance was luminous. What I found there startled me. There were Richard's friends, Barbara, Xavier, Victor and the other two girls- all except for Richard. It seems I followed my only instinct- and that was to run away from them as fast as I could. I sprinted back down the road, but no matter how fast I ran, I could never get more than two feet away from them.

The road seemed to longer than I thought; every time I was close to where I first started, the paved path continued to stretch. But I skidded to an abrupt stop when Richard popped up right in front of me. What I said to him was a blur, but from the tone of my voice I was actually afraid for once- fear was a rarity for me. He only stared at me with stony eyes, much harder than how he looked at me on my first day of school. He looked so sad; I remember seeing myself coming towards him to comfort him, but I was pushed back roughly. Then, before I knew it, there was a gun- on my head. I had no idea who was holding it, but as soon as I heard it fire, I woke up.

I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night after that, and I when I got up from bed, I had the creepiest feeling that someone was watching me at that moment. I turned around, ready to shout for Galfore's aid, but something stopped me.

I sighed loudly, hearing the wind ruffle the tree's leaves.

"I've been in this city too long."

* * *

The next two weeks were a big phenomenon for Richard and me. I never said that was a good thing though.

People didn't question Richard like I did, but they kept me annoyed half the time I was at school, with paparazzi popping up behind bushes and from trashcans to get comments from Richard and me. I nearly threatened to sue one photographer for hiding in the back of my truck on my way home one day.

But the day after I got home from the hospital, somehow, Richard apparently found another reason to ignore me. What possible grudge could he have against me now? I tried to approach him during science, but the only reaction I got from him was a grunt every time he turned away. I would do this everyday, and in the end, watching him grip the edge of his side of the table.

It was Friday today, I had made up my mind over the past two weeks that I wasn't going to apologize to him anytime soon, but I still continued to question his anger towards me. I felt myself getting immensely desperate when I found myself walking to the table he and his friends sat at.

What a big mistake that was.

Trying to act oblivious to Xavier's quiet stares towards me, I walked as confidently as I could without stumbling on the way to their table. The one thing that was missing was the whole reason I had come there in the first place- Richard. He was nowhere in sight, and I couldn't help but panic. There was no turning back now.

There they all sat, unaware of my presence until Xavier flashed me a warm smile that I couldn't help but smile back at.

"Hey, Cutie. Looking for Rich?"

My smile froze stiffly in place. "Uh, yeah. I can see he's not here right now, so I guess I'll just go."

Just as I was about to turn my heel, a voice reeled me back to face them.

"Come sit with us."

I felt a wave of hope rise up inside, but it soon faded when I saw that it was Barbara who had said it. Her statement sounded more of like a demand than a friendly request. Shyly, I sat down slowly on the cold spot at the end of the bench beside Xavier. Though I still wasn't as comfortable with him as I was with Richard, he had been the nicest to me so far.

We ate in silence until it was Xavier, again, who started asking me questions.

"So, Cutie, how do you like Jump?"

"Um, I like it so far. Mainly the warm weather is what I love the most."

And before I knew it, he and I had started a conversation. We were the only ones talking at the table, and I could feel each of the other's hard stares boring into my face. Xavier was a nice guy, not to mention as good looking as Richard. Just when I noticed that Barbara had started to open her mouth to say something to me, Richard chose the worst moment to come back. Barbara and the others left, leaving me alone with Richard and Xavier.

'_Get ready for the awkwardness,'_ I thought in remorse to myself.

Richard sat down as if he hadn't even noticed I sitting across from him, and I took a sudden interest in my caviar as I watched him intently from the corner of my eye.

"So," Xavier said. "Are you going to the Spring dance with anyone?'

The Spring Dance. I hadn't given it much thought, really. Was I even planning on going? I paused for a moment, hating the wave of guilt that swept over me as I racked my brain for excuses. But I saw, from the corner of my eye, Richard's head tilt reflectively in my direction.

"Oh, I don't think I'll be attending the dance. I was…planning on going back to New York that day and staying there for the rest of Spring Break." I watched him as he seemed to make a metal note to himself of what I had just said. Taking a quick glance at Richard, I noticed that he was gripping his spoon tightly, as if he was hanging on to his life. I was pretty sure I saw a dent in the metal spoon when he finally loosened his grip on it.

"That's too bad, Cutie. I was going to ask to come with me. You and I would make a pretty hot couple."

I blushed immediately as he said this, and when I finally looked up from my food for a response from Richard, he was already staring at me curiously, that same, familiar edge of anger and frustration that I was so used to by now, even more distinct now in his blue eyes. His knuckles had turned a shade of white.

"Um, Richard? Are you okay? Because your knuckles; you seem a little tense and-"

" _Kori_ has a name, and it's not 'Cutie'," he said in a calm yet furious tone.

I stared back at him, surprised at his quick retort. Expecting him to look quickly away, instead he continued to gaze with probing intensity into my green eyes. I could feel Xavier's impatience with Richard waning as the seconds ticked by.

Ignoring Richard's angry comment, he looked at me and winked as he rose from his seat, carrying his olive green lunch tray with him to the double doors. "Call me, okay Cutie?"

The color drained from my face as I called to him confusedly. "But I don't have your-"

He turned to smile slyly at me once more, but his smile didn't quite have the kind of effect Richard's had on me. I turned back to where only Richard was left, and something red caught my eye. In the spot where Xavier's tray had been, were seven digits.

"…Number…"

I felt my smile grow even larger, showing off my pearly whites to everyone in the large cafeteria. But my smile disappeared quickly when I noticed Richard's jaw clenched tightly.

"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I finally asked, an unintentional note of petulance in my voice.

His handsome face remained even more grim than usual. "You know, you should really stay away from him," he said in a hard tone, ignoring my question like I never asked it.

Grabbing my binder and my tray, I stalked off, walking as fast I could. The fact that he could keep up with me without breaking a sweat was beginning to piss me off.

"Well, then- you obviously don't know that you have no place in saying that," I said icily. His lips twitched, as if he was trying to fight a smile that was coming on. "There's nothing funny about this, Richard."

"I know." He sounded like somebody had just _died_. He stopped and looked at me with his eyes filled with anger and melancholy. "It's just better this way."

I stopped walking that instant. "I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice tensely guarded.

His chiseled features were serious, and I thought I felt my heart stop. "We can't be friends," he explained. "Trust me, with this."

"Trust you with what?" My eyes narrowed. "Well, it's too bad you didn't realize that sooner. You could have saved yourself all this trouble," I hissed through my teeth.

"Trouble?"

"Yes," I snapped. "All that regret. You should've just let that stupid car squish me."

I finally reached the filthy, used pickup truck Galfore had given me to replace my old one for the meantime.

He stared at me in disbelief, astonished at what I had just said and my enraged tone.

When he finally spoke, he almost sounded angry. "You think I regret saving your life?"

"I think we _both_ know you do," I said fiercely.

I turned my head sharply away from him, clenching my jaw at all the wild accusations I wanted to hurl back at his face.

"You don't know anything." Okay, _now_ he was definitely angry.

Hopping in my truck, I slammed the door as hard as I could. His face was hard as I rolled my window down and started the engine.

"Well, I know that you hate me for some stupid reason I'm not aware of!" An electric current passed back and forth from each of us and we glared at each other in an angry silence. "What is it? Seriously, is it my hair? My hideous eyes? Or is it just _me_!" I snapped, now fuming. The campus was now empty, thank goodness for that, because I wouldn't be caught dead being heard yelling.

"Kori, you have to believe me. You don't want to get close to me," he warned darkly.

"X'hal, you're infuriating."

I stomped on my gas pedal furiously, leaving him standing in the lone parking lot. I sighed.

I had to get away.

* * *

The thunder rolled. Rain began to sprinkle all over the pavement, which soon turned to large, plump raindrops.

I had just driven around Steel City in my furious state. It was already ten-thirty, and I knew Galfore would be worrying about me soon. The streets were practically empty, boutiques were closing, and parents began to usher their children into the cars. In Jump City, no one ever slept. Almost every store was open twenty-four hours a day.

I got on the highway; it would take at least an hour or two before I got back home- especially in this stormy weather. I tried to concentrate on the road, but my head was spinning in ten different directions, trying to analyze every word Richard had said to me earlier today. What did he mean, it was better if we weren't friends?

My stomach twisted as I realized what he must have meant. He must have seen how pathetic I was around him; he didn't want to lead me on…so we couldn't even be friends…because he wasn't the _least_ bit interested in me.

Of course he wasn't interested in me. The tabloids made it clear that he was looking for someone with a lot of flair- something he probably thought _I_ was missing.

If that was what he wanted, then he would get it. I could leave him alone. I _would_ leave him alone. I hated him so bad. Resentment for me had grown inside him for some unimaginable reason, and I didn't want to know why. He was so perfect; he wouldn't want anyone like me. He was so-

My thoughts of Richard evaporated. Was…my truck running slower? The freakishly old engine finally stopped its clunky monkey business and screeched as the front of the truck began to smoke. I pressed on the gas pedal repetitiously, then finally getting frustrated after a few tries.

"Damn it!"

The gas tank was empty. Oh, great. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere and hours away from home, it was raining freaking hard, I had forgotten to put gas in all my rage, and to make matters even worse, there was a stupid jerk in a huge car behind me trying to get my attention by honking his horn. I groaned loudly.

The man stepped out of his car and walked towards my worn out truck. Okay, now I was truly frightened. What if he was a thief? What if he was a murderer? What if he was one of those muggers? What if he was just plain dangerous? Or what if he was…

…Richard?

Indeed, it was Richard, in the same attire he was wearing earlier at school today…except now he was drenched. What a sight it was. I rolled down my window, unable to hear anything from the heavy raindrops.

"Kori?" he yelled.

"What are you doing here?"

"I had to drop something off at a friend's house."

He ran around, and then climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the rusty old door as he got in.

"Why aren't you moving?"

"Why the heck do you think? I ran out of gas!"

He chuckled and then smiled, unquestionably shaking with laughter. Crossing my arms, I continued to stare impatiently at the blank windshield as drops of rain dripped down and splattered noisily.

"I don't see what you keep laughing about," I muttered crossly. I hadn't forgotten about our quarrel earlier.

He continued to laugh his musical laugh and took hold of my hand. "Just get all your stuff and I'll take you back home."

Exhaling deeply, I gathered my books and ran out the ugly old thing, heading straight for his huge Hummer. When I got in, I settled myself in the back seats quite comfortably. I phoned Galfore, telling him what had happened and he simply instructed for me to leave the worn out truck were it was; he would send someone to tow it tomorrow.

We drove in silence, and it was an hour or two before I actually said something.

"You know, you didn't have to do this," I admitted, lowering my eyes in shame.

"It's okay; I wanted to." His face was looking strictly at the road before him.

He must have noticed how tired and strained I looked, because he demanded that I go to sleep on our way there. I refused to- I still had a lot of questions to ask him, and now that it was only the two of us, I figured now was the best time.

But my treacherous body deceived me as I felt my eyelids begin to get heavy. Laying my head down on the seat, I curled up and hugged my knees for warmth.

I peeked as I opened my eyes and found myself staring at Richard's face. In a flash, his eyes flickered to meet mine and a smile formed where my angry frown used to be. He didn't smile his crooked smile, or chuckle like he always did, but his empty eyes were now far from misery. I could still sense a bit of a troubled aura emitting from his ocean blue irises, and it seemed like he was trying to get some kind of important message through to me. But seeing at least a pinch of joy in his eyes for once was good enough for me.

Closing my eyes once more, I smiled before I drifted off to sleep. "Thanks, Richard."

And _that_ was when he smiled.

* * *

"Ugh, put me down."

I groggily opened my eyes to see the front of my house, Galfore springing up from the swinging chair on the porch.

"Not yet," said Richard.

This little dispute went on until we got upstairs to my room. I had to say though, it was just the teensiest bit awkward having Richard carry me up the stairs bridal style. Not that I didn't like it.

He set me down on my bed, where I lay tiredly in my damp clothes. I groaned, and when I looked at my clock my eyes widened when I saw that it was already two in the morning. No wonder Galfore was sitting out there…

Richard sat on my bed beside me, now knowing what to say. I couldn't blame him; we had only known each other for a month and it already felt like we had been through so much together. Suddenly, I heard a loud tune begin to ring repetitiously, and soon Richard pulled out a cell phone from his pocket.

"Hello? Yeah, I'm just a few blocks away…No, I'm just dropping a friend off…Yeah, that one."

He eyed me carefully and tensely as he continued to talk, his voice declining until I couldn't hear a word he was saying, despite the fact that he was only inches away from me. My eyes narrowed suspiciously as I glared at him. His whispers were barely loud enough for me to hear, and I was starting to get impatient with his guarded actions as he stared at me like he was gossiping about me, or saying something he knew I didn't want to hear.

"…Okay, I'll be there…just wait for me…"

He hung up and closed the thin Razor phone. Propping myself up on my elbows, I sent him a glare as he stood up from my bed quickly.

"I have to go."

I sat up straight now. Just a while ago I was arguing with him, trying to tell him to put me down, and then two seconds later some random person calls and he suddenly abides to the person's will?

"But-"

"No."

He gently pushed me down so that I was now lying down on the bed. Bewildered at his gentle nature towards me, I obeyed his orders instantly. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.

"Close your eyes."

Sighing, I shut my eyelids, and his footsteps sounded farther and farther away from my ears.

"Now count to ten."

Okay. Now this was getting to be ridiculous.

"I don't see what the point of this is," I reasoned out to him.

Sitting up fast, I looked all around the room for those same familiar blue eyes. But I stopped immediately when I felt the warm breeze blow right past me, sending shivers down my spine. Turning around slowly, I heard the leaves rustling.

The sliding door to my balcony was wide open, and my eyes widened when I rushed to the terrace. The streets were empty, cars were parked, all the neighbors were fast asleep, not a shadow was moving on the sidewalk…

…And Richard was nowhere in sight.


	5. Chapter 5

"Last night was another devastating night for many of us in Jump City. Another one of our precious emerald jewels had been reported stolen by the same team of thieves. This group of adolescents has committed murderous crimes, as discovered this morning when a pedestrian past by Genela's, the famed jewelry store, and found five security guards lying lifeless on the floor. The wanted teens have remained unmasked and unidentified at the moment, and the group of six are believed to be sly, violent killers as well, so please notify any police station if you spot them. I am Susan Tamers, and this is Channel Four news…"

My hands froze as I watched from my chair in my large dining area where I was eating dinner. Murderers? Here in Jump City? Was Galfore informed about this?

I rose from my seat and walked into our ballroom, but murmuring voices pulled me back the other direction. Tiptoeing silently, I crept as silently as I could, using the hissing mumbles as my trail, and I soon found myself in front of the library door. I could tell Galfore had latched all four of the locks in place, making sure it was sealed and unable for anyone to get in.

Pressing my right ear to the door, I felt a wave of guilt come over me as I attempted to eavesdrop on my goodhearted uncle without hesitation.

"…But my Koriand'r is too young!…I will not let her go through with…"

"…She is in danger… …"

There were a few words I couldn't catch; my curiosity instantly began to question every word I had heard at that moment. I was in _danger_? And who was that other male speaking?

"She will learn from- …"

The voices soon stopped talking, and I didn't hear another word. I tried pressing my ear harder against the dark wooden door, but silence was the only thing echoing in my ear. And also…footsteps? They kept getting louder; I strained my hearing to listen- maybe I beginning to be getting slowly hearing impaired? I scoffed at the thought, closing my eyes, and then the next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor, the door was now wide open, and Galfore and some man I didn't recognize were staring me down angrily as they towered over me.

I felt a pang of regret as I caught a glimpse of Galfore's sad and sullen face.

"Galfore…I'm sorry, I-…" My voice trailed off and I turned my face away from his with shame.

"It is okay, my little one. There is something I wish to speak to you about."

He led me back into the library, and motioned for both the grey-eyed stranger and me to rest ourselves in the velvet seats. As he sighed, I could tell he was trying his best to look me in the eye.

"Koriand'r, this is Bruce Wayne."

"Hello, Sir." I smiled shyly, still embarrassed with our previous encounter just minutes ago, but my grin disappeared after I saw that he was still frowning, his face still grim.

"He and I have been discussing an important matter over the phone for a little while, and I think I should let you know why we moved here in Jump City in the first place," Galfore continued. I stayed silent, intrigued by what he was going to say next. He shot Bruce a sad look, as if he wanted anybody but himself to tell me what was going on.

Bruce looked at me sternly. "We believe a team of assassins are after you and your uncle- primarily you and the fortune your parents left for you after their death."

Holy hell.

I merely stared at him disbelievingly, unable to perceive what he had just told me. "You-you think people have been sent out to…_kill_ me? You mean the team of murderers on the news all the time?"

"I see you've been keeping up with the current events happening here. I work for the CIA, and my agents and I have been studying their motives in their past crimes."

I stood up from my chair, my unusual strength causing it to crash into the wall as I did so. Folding my arms crossly and tapping my foot with pure anger and impatience, I found myself fighting the urge to trash all the books in the room at the moment.

"Well?" I asked furiously, "Anything _else_ you want to tell me while I'm still calm?"

This time Galfore looked at me. He stood up, and I never thought I would feel this distant from him even though we were only five feet apart.

"They think Koma is part of the conspiracy."

My sister? The one who cared for me when my parents were gone? The one who I once thought was my best friend? The one whom I spent three months looking for after she was reported missing?

Koma wanted me…dead?

I couldn't believe it, and there was absolutely no way I going to. Bruce Wayne and Galfore would just be wasting their time if they thought they could convince me that my sister wanted to kill me.

Tears began to sting my eyes, and I tried to fight them back as they threatened to spill down my cheeks anytime soon. Taking a couple steps back from Bruce Wayne and Galfore, I looked at them with somber eyes.

"Did…did Richard know about this? Did he?" I whispered. They remained silent, and I knew well enough to take that as a yes. "Galfore…why didn't you tell me sooner?"

He tried to reach for my shoulder to comfort me with his apology, but I felt too betrayed to accept any more apologies- I had already heard enough of them from Roy. They kept it from me…and the hurt I felt at the moment was nearly too overwhelming. I quickly backed away, running out the door, and I made sure that I ran fast enough with my long legs for them not to catch up with me.

I quickly grabbed a set of keys from the cabinet, not caring at all which car it belonged to.

* * *

The mall. It had always been the haven I looked forward to when I was distressed.

It had been

I walked along the empty streets of the outdoor mall, wishing I had brought Raven with me to talk to. It was already twelve o'clock midnight, and I think that Galfore knew I wasn't arriving home any time soon after what Bruce Wayne and he had told me.

I had a lot of thinking to do while I walked the streets after I left my manor. I had planned to use my credit cards to rent a hotel room for a couple of nights, and then I would come home soon and ask Galfore for an apology. I knew I was being selfish; there was no need to deny it. But all the hurt and betrayal I felt from Richard and Galfore added up to thoughts of suicide. I knew I couldn't break, though; I had to keep my will strong.

I ran my fingers through my red hair a couple of times and took some deep breaths before I continued around the corner to get to the sleek convertible. I thought I heard a breeze of wind fly past me for a split second, but when I turned around there was nothing there but a stray tabby cat.

I started to realize, as I crossed another road, that I was going the wrong direction. The little foot traffic I had seen was going north, and it looked like the buildings here were mostly warehouses. I decided to turn east at the next corner, and then loop around after a few blocks and try my luck on my way back to the boardwalk.

I nearly jumped out of my skin though, when a figure jumped from what nearly looked like a towering building.

"Hey baby," called a deep male voice.

"Um, hi," I mumbled nervously. I suddenly started to get the feeling that something bad was going to happen any minute now.

I couldn't make out what he was wearing, but I could tell it was a black body suit. He walked towards me, and he started to scare me when he kept on following my random route.

I scooted as far as I could to the inside of the sidewalk to give her room to pass me by. But he remained behind me, mimicking my pace as I walked swiftly, looking from the corner from my eye to see where he was.

He was still there, walking as fast as I was. I didn't know why he was following me, but that was a question that I didn't want to be answered. I began to walk even more rapidly than I already was.

"Hey, wait!" he called after me, but I kept my head down and rounded the corner with a sigh of relief. I could still hear him chortling after me.

I found myself on a sidewalk leading past the backs of several somber-colored warehouses, each with large bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The south street had no sidewalk, only a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire protecting some kind of engine parts storage yard.

I heard footsteps once again, and then without thinking, I automatically turned my head.

_It was him again._ I blinked, and when I opened my eyes, he had disappeared.

The sky suddenly darkened even further than it already was, and I looked over my shoulder to glare at the offending cloud, still visible in the black sky. But something jumped up from behind me. Before I could even turn around, I felt someone grab me and hold my body against their hard chest. Their grip was too strong and firm to be a woman's- the male pressed me up against the brick building that had been just inches away from us.

Gasping, I felt too weak to pry his hands off me, where they now rested on my shoulders. "What do you want with m-"

"Well look who it is, little miss Kori Anders."

My eyes widened in shock. He had to be stalking me if he was able to recognize who I was under the dimly lit moon.

"Who are y-" My voice was cut off when I saw whom I was trying to fight off.

I took a good look at his face when he pulled his head back, letting him reveal himself in the dappled moonlight. A white skull imprinted on a black suit was now facing me, with two red marks shaped like open wounds slashed upon his face, making an X. He had a long black cape, and his muscular body was lean. My throat went dry.

I winced as he stroked his index finger down my cheek surprisingly softly, still pressing my body against the building as he stood no less than an inch away from me. He lifted his mask slightly to reveal his lips and they drew closer and closer to mine.

"You know," he murmured deeply, "You're as hot as they say you are…"

"Stay away from me," I warned in a voice that was supposed to sound strong and fearless. But I was right about the dry throat part- there was no volume or hint of bravery in my voice whatsoever.

"Don't be like that, Cutie," he teased raucously in a deep robot-like voice.

Surprisingly, I did nothing at this point to stop him. I was too shocked to get out of my stiff state. He leaned closer and closer to me, and soon he was only inches away from my lips. But he took a turn and in no time I felt his warm breath whispering in my ear.

"Richard's not going to save you this time," he whispered hoarsely.

"How do you know that he won't?" I whimpered softly, with tears now falling from the corners of my eyes, as I felt my fragile body being crunched even harder than before against the hard bricks.

"Because," he said, chuckling raucously, " he hasn't even told you his biggest secret yet, Cutie."

His mouth pressed against my ruby lips as I gasped, and I pushed him off me just before the headlights flew suddenly around the corner. He let me go hastily, leaving me to tumble to the ground from my surprise and his bold statement. I had seen him before, but the faint feeling of dizziness left me in a shocked state and unaware of where I was at the moment.

The silver car fishtailed around, and none other than Richard jumped out. He ran with a fast speed, and I could tell that it was powered by anger. He was able to reach the black-suited man, and he grabbed the collar of his suit and crushed him against the wall, yelling something to him.

There was something familiar about that man- I know I had seen him before.

"Get in," his furious voice commanded from far away, and it was amazing how fast the choking fear lodged in my throat instantly vanished, amazing how the feeling of security suddenly began to power my confused brain.

It was dark in the car, the windows had some sort of blur when you looked out the window, and the only thing I could make out was Richard running towards my direction to the car and the black-suited male jumping over a barb-wired fence.

Richard ran back to the truck, and for a split second I felt frightened by the fierce, murderous expression on his face.

"Put on your seatbelt," he commanded, and I realized that I was clutching the seat with both hands. I quickly obeyed; the snap as the belt connected was loud in the dark alley. He took a sharp left, racing forward, blowing past several stop signs without a pause.

All I knew at that moment was that I felt safe for the time being, and that was pretty much all that was on my mind. Totally unaware of where we were going, I stared at his face in pure relief, relief that went beyond my sudden deliverance. As I studied his flawless features, still trying to calm myself from hyperventilation, it didn't occur to me how brutal and vicious his perfect face had become.

"Are…are you okay?" I asked, not surprised at all how hoarse my voice had become.

"No," he said tensely, and his tone was livid.

I sat in silence as he drove recklessly past at least five stoplights; the streets were empty, and I couldn't see anything from the dark. It was midnight, and it was too dark to see anything besides the vague outline of dark trees crowding the roadside. We weren't in town anymore.

"Kori?" he asked quietly, his voice still controlled and tight.

"Yes?" My voice was still rough. I tried to clear my throat quietly.

"Are you all right?" He still didn't look at me, but the fury was evident and written all over his face.

I leaned forward, resting my bony elbows on my legs, and dug my face in my hands with my hair entangled with my slim fingers. "I don't know," I croaked softly, and I didn't realize the tears still streaming down my face until I felt a small drop wet a tiny spot on my jeans.

"Distract me, now," he ordered demandingly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

He took a sharp intake of breath.

"Just talk about something- anything- until I calm myself down," he clarified, closing his eyes.

"Um." I sniffled and wracked my brain for something trivial. "Raven called me a billion times this morning?"

He was still squeezing his eyes closed, which in my part I thought was the best way to get into a car accident. His jaw was still clenched tightly.

"What for?"

"She kept asking me ways to ask a boy out- I think it's Garfield she's trying to sort things out with. She said they've been on and off since junior high because of Terra…" I babbled on.

"Yeah, I heard about that," he said, his voice just the tiniest bit more composed.

"Oh."

He sighed.

"Better?" I asked.

"No."

He drove in silence, and he finally opened his eyes. I waited, and he leaned his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. His face was rigid.

"What's wrong?" My voice came out in a barely audible whisper.

He gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Did he touch you?" he whispered darkly.

I stared at him, allowing another tear to slide down my tanned cheek. His face was grim, and I was more afraid of his reaction than him.

"Yes," I admitted softly.

He stared out the window, and his eyes narrowed into thin slits. "What did he do to you?"

Sighing, I wiped another falling teardrop away. "He…he kissed me."

"He did _what_?" He was whispering too, and he stared straight out the window once more. The gas pedal sounded like it was about to break off as he stomped his foot on it, and when he finally let go of the steering wheel, hollow dents of his finger were left on it.

"He kissed me. It's-…it's not a big deal really, I mean-"

"-It is a big deal. Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Kori. When I saw him so…_close_ to you…I could have sworn something in me was telling me to kill X right there…"

"Who?"

He heaved a sigh. "Nothing"

I sighed. It seemed like the best response I could think of.

We sat in silence again for what seemed like hours. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was past one-thirty.

"It's late," I murmured softly. "And it's an early Sunday morning. Where can we go at a time like this?"

"I'm taking you-"

"No, please," I begged softly. "Don't take me home. Galfore is the last person I want to explain this to."

He made no response to this, but merely drove steadily now. "We're staying at a hotel for the night."

"For a couple of days you mean," I stated. My voice was still as soft as a whisper. "It's Spring Break, and I can't stand spending the whole time cooped up in an empty mansion."

"Three nights it is," he said monotonously.

After a few moments he added with total seriousness, "Promise me you'll keep me sane the rest of the time, though."

I looked at him in the dead silence. "Sane from what? How can I promise something like that?"

"Sane from any guy that wants to even look at you. One more incident, and I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself."

I laughed softly, and I could have sworn his eyes lit up for a split second. He looked at me. Again, his divided focus between the road and me was nerve-racking, but that wasn't what was making me nervous. It was the way he looked at me- a mix of emotions fusing together at the same time- much different than how furious he was a while ago. It was hard to depict how he was feeling or what mood he was in.

"You should go to sleep," he said. His voice had the sound of longing in it, but he soon cleared his throat. "It might take a while before we get to the next city."

"Do you have any idea where we're headed?" I questioned, yawning as I did so. Damn him and his influence over me.

"You'll see tomorrow," he said, and before I closed my eyes I felt his gaze focusing on me.


	6. Chapter 6

Yes, it was quite nerve-racking to sleep in a car driven by an absurdly eye-catching male staring anywhere but the road. Yet I slumbered peacefully, and the next morning I found myself lying down on a king-sized bed in a room that was practically coated in gold.

My eyes fluttered gracefully, or at least I would have liked to have thought they were. I propped myself up on my elbows, but I found that Richard was nowhere in sight.

"Richard?"

The familiar sound of bells and cars rang in my ear, and they continued to echo until I could no longer take the sense of familiarity they kept giving me. It sounded so much like…_home_.

Or was it really?

Immediately I sprang up from my spot in bed and leaped to the open window, the well-known New York City air causing my red hair to fly wildly like a kite. Climbing out onto the balcony, my eyes almost popped out of my sockets when I realized that the air itself was too recognizable…

_New York City._

I squealed ecstatically and clapped my hands, jumping up and down like a small child.

Don't worry, though. It didn't last too long.

"I can see I took you to the right place."

I swiveled violently, almost knocking down the large pot of lilacs next to me. He stared me down with his amused, ocean blue eyes, smiling in his poised and unruffled state as always. I cleared my throat loudly.

"Um, yeah. I can't believe you got us here to New York so fast though," I said, trying to sound as composed as he was. I tried to keep my breathing pattern even as I stood at the rails of the balcony, my heart still pounding as my longing for home finally filled the lonely space in my heart. "How'd you do it?"

"You've been asleep for a day; I think we can come to the conclusion that you went into shock after the last night."

"But…how-"

"I drove us to my airport and we flew in my jet."

I raised my hand up to my cheek, surprised at what he had just told me. I went into shock?

"But- but-"

His mouth twitched as he tried to fight back a grin, and I could tell he wanted to laugh right in my face at that moment. "You seem a little confused," he teased.

I scowled playfully. "Oh, shut up, Grayson."

* * *

He started the engine without another word, turning around smoothly and speeding down the streets of the brightly lit city. The streets were surprising not as traffic as I always remembered them to be. His hands gripped the steering wheel and, still going to fast, weaved with ease through the cars slowly cruising along the sidewalk. I looked out the window to see the faint lights of Pierre La Bisque in the distance.

My questions from last night quickly made me come back to my senses again, and the longer he kept me waiting for the answers the more anxious I was becoming. But ruining the mood was the worst thing to do- we had already gone through enough the other night.

I began to open my mouth, but then I just chose to shake my head as I heard the car door open and turned to see Richard getting out.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm taking you to dinner." He smiled slightly, but his eyes were still as hard as ever. He stepped out of the car and slammed the door. I fumbled with my seatbelt, and then hurried to get out of the car as well. He was waiting for me on the sidewalk.

Thank X'hal I had my wallet and had purchased some decent clothes earlier, because when I walked in I was astounded to see everyone in cocktail dresses and tuxedos. Richard had reminded me to wear something special for the evening, but he never mentioned anything about a fine dining restaurant.

I clutched my purse tightly as I nervously looked amongst the sea of faces, gazing down at my attire. A simple white tank top, a black bohemian skirt, a sash tied like a headband around my head, and some beads I found at a random jewelry store. These were all things I pulled together at the last minute.

"Um…Richard? I don't feel like eating anymore, I'm not…_dressed_ for it. Plus I don't really have the kind of looks to compensate for that, and-" I cut myself off as I tried to walk out of the restaurant as casually as I could without drawing negative attention to myself.

But his cursed hands took hold of mine, and I wished at that moment that I hadn't stopped immediately as soon as he pulled me back gently.

"Kori…" He sighed. "You look…great."

Was that it? Just…"great"? It sounded like he wanted to say so much more, like he was trying to hold something back; I wish he hadn't though…

We walked in again, and this time I wasn't as anxious as I was before. The restaurant wasn't that crowded. The host was a female, and I understood from the look in her eyes that she was overwhelmed by Richard's presence. She welcomed him a little more warmly than necessary- that was, compared to me. I was surprised by how much that bothered me. She was several inches shorter than my height of 5'6, and from first look, unnaturally blond _and_ tan.

"A table for two?" His voice was simply alluring, and I couldn't tell if he was doing it on purpose or if it was just a _really_ bad habit of his. I saw her eyes flicker towards my direction and then away, obviously unsatisfied by the fact that mysterious playboy Richard Grayson was dining out with the shy and private Kori Anders, a match no one ever thought had a chance of happening. But I saw this dinner as anything other than a date; it was simply just a kind offer to take me out to dinner.

She led us to a table big enough for four people in the center of the most crowded area of the dimly lit room. Obviously she had planned on keeping a sharp eye on us.

I was just about to sit down, but Richard shook his head at me.

"Could we get something a little more private?" he insisted politely to the host. I wasn't exactly sure of it, but it looked like he smoothly handed her a tip.

"Sure." She sounded as surprised and bewildered as I was. She turned around and led us to the second floor, presenting us with a small table for two right along with the magnificent view just outside the window we were sitting by. "How's this?"

"Perfect." He flashed his gleaming smile, dazing her momentarily.

"Um- I-" – she shook her head, blinking- "Your server will be right out." She walked away unsteadily.

"You really shouldn't do that to people," I criticized. "It isn't very fair."

"Do what?"

"Get them high off your 'charm' or whatever the tabloids call it- she's probably hyperventilating in the kitchen right now."

He seemed generally confused.

"Seriously," I said dubiously, "You have to know what kind of effect you have on people."

He raised an eyebrow but grinned uncontrollably. "And just what is this effect I have on people?"

"You haven't noticed? Do you think everybody gets their way that easily?"

He stared into my eyes now, as serious as ever, ignoring my questions. "Do I have an effect on you?"

"Well- I…Not really- yes…no?"

I tried to find the words to describe what was on my mind at that moment, but it just happened to be my luck when the server carried the menus out. His lopsided grin made me melt to the ground, but thank X'hal it wasn't as evident as the hostess' reaction.

The server smiled flirtatiously towards Richard's direction. The hostess had definitely dished out the info on us, and this new girl didn't look disappointed. She flipped a strand of short black hair back over her shoulder and smiled with an unnecessary warm smirk. For one of the most refined restaurants in the city, they didn't have very many classy employees.

I shook my head and growled. Why was this bugging me so much?

"Hello, I'm Keely, and I'll be your server for tonight. Is there anything I can get for you to drink?" I didn't miss that she was speaking only to him.

He looked at me with those piercing blue eyes.

"I'll have a Coke." It sounded like a question.

"Two cokes," he said.

"I'll be right back with that," she assured him with another flirtatious smile. But he didn't see it. He was watching me.

"What?" I asked as she left.

His eyes stayed fixed on my face. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I replied, surprised by his concern.

"You don't feel dizzy, sick, cold…?"

"Am I supposed to?"

He chuckled at my puzzled tone.

"I've been kind of waiting for you to go into shock." His face was twisted up into that perfect smile.

"I don't really think that'll happen anytime soon," I said after I could finally breath again. "I've always been very good at repressing unpleasant things."

"Just the same, I'll feel better when you have something to eat."

Right on cue, the waitress appeared with our drinks and a basket of breadsticks. She stood right in front of me, blocking my view of Richard completely as she placed them on the table.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked Richard in a screeching, high-pitched tone.

"Kori?" he questioned. She turned unwillingly to me, slouching as she did.

I picked the first thing I saw on the menu. "Uh…I'll have the…mushroom ravioli, please."

"And you?" she asked sweetly as she turned back to him with a smile.

"Um…I'll have the same thing."

"Sure thing," she said with the Barbie-like smile still plastered on her face. What a fake. She left, still unsatisfied by Richard's divided attention.

We sipped our drinks in silence until an unanswered question kept pushing it's way through my conscience.

"How did you know where I was?" I stared at him, still puzzled at his right timing the other night.

His eyes darkened as he suddenly interested himself with the contents of his drink. "Just a weird feeling, I guess."

I narrowed my eyes. "No, seriously, how did you know where I was at the exact place _and_ at the exact time? Only someone with a tracker or whatever could have known something like that."

Unfortunately, the waitress came with a large tray balanced on one hand. I was guessing that was our food. I realized that we had been unconsciously leaning toward each other across the table, because we both straightened up as she approached. She set the dish in front of me, but then quickly turned towards Richard.

"Is their anything else I can get you? Do you see anything you want?" she asked, pretending to unconsciously twirl her short hair around her anorexic fingers. The double meaning in her words was pretty evident. "O-on the menu, I mean," she added after I caught her throw a glance towards the hostess who had previously

"No thanks," he said looking up at me. "I'm good for right now."

I heard Keely huff under her breath as she strode away and I blushed, wondering if that comment was going towards me or towards his mushroom ravioli. We ate in a comfortable silence the rest of the time there.

* * *

It was Monday evening. Right now, I was boarding one of Richard's private jets, and this Spring Break had felt unusual to me. Most of the time I usually spent my Spring Breaks sitting around watching TV and stuffing my face with unhealthy sweets (which never really did anything to me) or going to the mall and spending a bunch of money on useless items.

I lugged a few shopping bags up the ramp while Richard was talking to the pilot, giving him detailed instructions on our destination. We took flight just a few minutes after that. He looked up as soon as I threw myself on the spinning chair, whirling around for ten minutes dizzily as I did so. Grinning his perfect lopsided smile, he laughed as I stumbled, trying to get up from the chair.

"Ah! I'm…kind of…d-dizzy…" I rocked back and forth and I didn't realize I had begun to fall forward (almost toppling down to the ground) until he caught me; his body was shaking uncontrollably with laughter.

As he set me down on one of the regular seats, he continued to struggle breathing while he was still having a laughing fit. "I'm fine!" I protested as seriously as I could, but within seconds I found myself paralyzed with laughter as well.

When we finally stopped to catch our breath, I sighed in contentment. I was glad that I wasn't home, or else I would've been struggling with all the tension between Galfore and me. I had left him a message, having no idea why he wasn't home on a weekend, and informed him about my three-day stay, but still not exactly the precise coordinates of my whereabouts.

My thoughts suddenly wandered to Raven. Maybe it was about time I called her and told her I wasn't able to go to the movies with her tonight, considering the fact that it was going to take us a bit more than a couple of hours to arrive back at Jump City.

I looked over curiously at Richard, who was watching a football game at the moment. But as if on cue, he turned his head away from the game and stared at me as I stared back. His piercing blue eyes bore intensely into mine, and our gazes locked until I turned my head away, embarrassed.

"U-um…where's the bathroom?" I asked in a calm voice. I cleared my throat.

"Go straight and over to your left. You'll find two doors and then just go to the one on the-"

Boom.

"_AND IT'S A TOUCHDOWN FOR JUMP CITY!"_

He cheered and threw his fist into the air, and then he came for me as I stood gawking there and yanked me towards him, dancing recklessly as I giggled.

When he finally let me go, I raised my eyebrows jokingly. "I think I'll go to the bathroom now," I chuckled. Grabbing my toothbrush and my cell phone, I walked quietly into the hallway.

I was used to the big airplanes my parents and I used to travel on together, but the one I was on now was practically a maze.

"Straight down, and turn to the left," I murmured softly to myself.

I soon found myself in front of the two doors he had described to me. My palms tingled with excitement as I thought of all the things to tell Raven that had happened since Friday. I turned the knob of the right door and walked into a bathroom the size of a master bedroom.

Anxiously, I dialed Raven's ten-digit number.

A monotone voice answered dully, "What."

"Raven? It's Kori."

"Kori, Gar and I couldn't wait for you so we just decided to go to the movies ahead. Where _are_ you anyways?"

"I'm on my way to Jump with Richard," I said, absentmindedly twiddling my thumbs as I held the phone between my ear and my shoulder.

"Private jet?" she asked knowingly.

"Yup."

She sighed, almost wistfully. "You don't want to get to close to him, Kori. I don't know if someone's already warned you about that, but you should seriously stay away from him."

I stared at my hands in shock, remembering Richard's forewarning. "Why does everybody keep saying that to me? How would you even _know_?"

It was a few minutes until something other than silence came from the other line. "I used to be friends with him and Barbara and the rest of them- I taught him a couple of stuff and it was sooner than I knew that he and his friends ditched me."

"What do you mean you taught him some "stuff"?" I asked, even more intrigued than ever.

But instead of Raven's reply I heard her mother yelling from the distance in the static background.

"Sorry, Kori, Garfield's here for the movies. I have to go now."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and stood from my spot on the closed toilet lid. Facing the mirror, I looked at the reflection facing me in the mirror. For once since my first day of high school, I wasn't too disappointed with my image. Auburn, red hair fell down my shoulders in it's straight form with two strands falling to the sides of my orange-tanned face, and for the first time in ages, I felt grateful for my slim figure. My green eyes were actually beaming with contentment of the way things had been going for the last couple of days.

It was good while it lasted.

A hard pounding on the door made the fragile piece of wood tremble, and when I realized that it was Richard yelling my name frantically, I opened the door as quickly as I could.

"What? What is it?" I asked, startled at his alarmed expression.

He took hold of my hand and tried to lead me out of the bathroom. "You're not supposed to be in here," he said firmly.

I kept me feet rooted in their place. "What are you talking about? Isn't this the bathroo-"

I cut myself off as the airplane took a deep, plunging dive, making me suddenly turn green as I clutched the bathroom counter for support, and I literally had to hold on to the glass sink as if it depended on my life. The plane was now dangerously taking a nosedive- and a very fast one too. I crashed onto the hard tiled walls of the bathtub area, groaning at the painful impact.

I felt my back being pressed against some form of a lever, and the downward force of the handle pushed against my backside. I saw Richard's eyes widen at my grunt of throbbing pain. I sighed in relief as I sensed the jet going at it's normal pace and direction.

"Kori, are you okay?"

I kept my eyes closed, still trying to breath properly. "What…what _happened_?" I asked, shocked.

"I think Chad lost control of the plane for a minute or two."

My eyebrows furrowed together though, when I heard mechanical gears shifting, moving around profusely. I opened my eyes to see the walls of the bathroom revolving to reveal-

"-Oh my god…"

Instead of the bathroom sink in its usual place, glass shelves were stacked with rows of grenades and large bullets, each of them side by side. Another wall had daggers and ropes, each one even thicker than the next as I went down the line. Different size riffles and pocket guns hung on the left side of the room, while hundreds and hundreds of drawers slid out to reveal large machine guns and even more artillery.

Slowly, I turned my head to meet his gaze. "R…Richard?"

**

* * *

A/N: Dun dun Duuuuun! And now the suspense begins! ****Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7

I couldn't move.

I sat there, my legs sprawled across the carpeted room, and it's horrible displays were still taunting me with their evidently sharpened blades and the shined guns. Obviously they had been well cared for _recently_.

I couldn't tell what was in his eyes though. There were so many emotions flashing in those blue orbs at the same time; it was hard to tell whether he was angry or stuck in a state of panic.

I heard faint footsteps beginning to get louder by the seconds, and it wasn't long before a lanky male with a dorky pilot cap on stepped into the doorway awkwardly, looking back and forth at each of us.

I was guessing that _this_ was Chad. I hoped it was, because I was planning to strangle him later for making me turn green and almost throwing up in front of Richard.

"Um, Mr. Grayson…Sir? I'm sorry about the little mishap with the plane; I seemed to have been receiving technical difficulties at short notice and-_whoa_! Look at all these cool toys! They almost look like the real things-"

"- Just _go_, Chad," Richard sighed exasperatedly, running his fingers through his jet-black hair out of habit. The poor pilot merely nodded and scuttled out of our sight, leaving us alone again.

"Richard, are you going to tell me what's going o-"

He turned his back away from mine, obviously trying to hide whatever expression he held on his face. "You weren't supposed to be in here."

I felt my heart soften (as it always did around him), and I propped myself up, walking towards him. Walking in front of him, I rested my hand on his shoulder.

"Why?" I whispered in a barely audible volume.

His eyes flashed towards mine in a second, and the fierce and blistering essence in his blue orbs met with mine, and I even felt my own eyes swelling with a plead for honesty in a scorching sense.

"I can't tell you right now, it's too-"

The static hum of what sounded like a really bad transmission emitted from the flat panel television screen, interrupting Richard.

His eyes widened as he set his hands on my shoulders in panic, shoving me towards a tall closet.

"What are you-?"

"You have to hide; they can't see you here alone with me."

I heard my voice being muffled by the numerous amount of coats and suits crammed inside the slim closet, and for a second I thought the thing was going to spit me out.

"But who's-?"

He drew his handsome face close to mine, making his chiseled features just inches away from my face. "You have to trust me this time," he soothed.

"I thought I did just a few minutes ago, and now I'm stuck in a closet still waiting for you to explain to me what's going on!" I hissed.

He merely chuckled and walked towards the center of the room. I closed my eyes and sighed, rubbing my temples as I tried my best to breath and relax at the same time when a familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Richard, are you there? It's Babs."

I was able to see her face on the television screen from a small crack in the wooden closet. Her features were so intimidating towards a girl like me who practically had nothing to show. Her high cheekbones matched mine, but her red hair was a lot bouncier and her fair skin looked a lot better than my orange skin in comparison. Her blue eyes matched her angel-like appearance perfectly, while my auburn hair clashed with my emerald green eyes. I was so…_intimidated _by her.

Richard sipped a cup of coffee, sitting in his chair looking as though he had been sitting in it for hours. At least someone was relaxed.

"What is it?"

"It's about the mission. What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled angrily.

"What are you talking about?" he said, still sitting calmly and serenely in his lounging position.

"Why are you going out on a limb for this…_girl_? She a target; you're supposed to be on our side, not saving her from every attempt we make to get rid of her!"

Richard stood abruptly out of his chair, causing it to hit the wall as I watched his hands wrap around the coffee mug even tighter. "How do you know about that?" he asked in a low, angry voice.

"Xavier told me," she sneered with a hint of jealousy in her tone. "What does she even _matter_ to you?"

"I've gotten to know her, okay? I-"

"And what difference would it make if you guys were friends or not? She's just another target, Richard."

"She's not just another-"

"And," Barbara ranted, making me wonder who this girl was, "Nobody will notice when she's gone."

Richard's fists hugged the mug even tighter, and I was sure I heard a crack come from his hand. His arms hung limply to his side, but his other was white except for the part where his knuckles swelled with a deep, red shade.

"That's not true-"

"She's a lying slut. Have you read the tabloids lately?"

I could feel the anger building up in his blood.

"She's not like that…"

But an angry smirk kept playing on Barbara's lips, and I saw that she too had her hands rolled up in a heavy fist. "Nobody cares about her-"

"There are a lot of people-"

"Her sister hated her-"

"-That wasn't in her control-"

"First it's you, and now even freaking X is talking about her like he's going to marry her or something…"

"Babs, this isn't funny anymore, _stop_…"

She kept on going as if she didn't hear a word he uttered. "- Just cause he kissed her!"

"…Wait…what was X saying?

"Oh, wouldn't _you_ like to know…"

I sighed, listening again to their arguing yells and screams.

"-_Barbara_…"

"He likes her- a lot. He's been talking about her all weekend and how supposedly hot she is…"

He stayed silent. I could tell from his face that he was trying to hold all her insults in.

"She doesn't deserve the kind of attention you give to her. She isn't worth it, she's not impor-"

He threw his mug on the floor, causing an earth-shattering crash to echo back and forth as it bounced off the walls.

"SHE'S IMPORTANT TO ME!"

Barbara stayed silent, grinding her teeth as Richard spoke. "She's important to me and…" He looked at me and the closet I was hiding in with pained eyes, panting slightly from his angry and sudden outburst. "…And I care about her."

"But you're with _me_ now, Richard. You can't just keep trying to flirt with our targets."

I could've sworn I felt my heart break into two. How stupid I was to think that a guy like him didn't already have someone on his mind! I felt so humiliated- to think that I actually had a chance against someone like Barbara with him…

"I'm just waiting until I close enough to her," he muttered.

"Well then, you better get her before X does."

Silence filled the room quickly once again, and the tension between the both of them was unnerving.

"I have to go…and don't forget, movies tomorrow at five," she said, looking back anxiously.

The screen turned off, and as soon as it did, I stepped out slowly out of the closet. He turned his head away slowly and walked out of the room, leaving me standing dumbfounded at what had just gone on. But just before he left, he paused.

"What was that all about?"

He turned his head slightly, only allowing me to see his profile. "I can't talk right now," he said in a soft, remorseful tone. "I'm sorry."

He walked out.

I closed the door softly and turned the latch to lock the door as I slumped over the bathroom counter, burying my head deep into my hands.

I had to be one of the stupidest people in the world.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

The rest of the ride home was spent in silence. With a long drive back home I felt that things couldn't have been more awkward. How could a twenty-minute drive seem so long?

I sat there, slouched as my arms were folded in a frozen position, resting in the same spot as I stared out the window with sad eyes. I felt his blue eyes boring into me intensely and I wanted to jump out of the car from all the tension between us.

"Look Kori, about that whole plane thing- "

Despite my urgent need for answers, I waved it off crossly, still angry and embarrassed. "No, no, really, I'm fine."

He sighed. "No…you're not."

This time I faced him. "How do you expect me to be? I've been trying to get some answers from you and all you keep doing is stalling."

His eyes turned stone cold as I watched them focus on the road for the first time since I had first ridden in his car. "What do you want to know?" he said darkly after a few moments.

"What happened to you and Raven? She told me that you guys were friends before."

"What about it?"

"She said she taught you some stuff, and she made it sound really top secret or something."

He remained silent, and just as I was about to say something back to him about his silence, I blinked and the next thing I knew, I was in front of the gates leading up to the path up my house.

I sighed. "Fine then, _don't_ tell me."

Leaning over to the intercom and camera just outside the window, I identified myself. "Nana Anita? It's me, Kori!"

The aged maid, my favorite one, appeared on the screen almost immediately, and her soft, wise eyes lightened up in surprise. "Ms. Anders! It has been so quiet without your bubbly little voice around here! Come in!"

The steel gates, with each bar only an inch apart and over eight feet tall, almost impossible for intruders to invade, creaked open, and we began the three-minute drive up the hill to my manor.

Soon we were in front of my house. The lights were on, my truck was parked along the large fountain, newly repaired, and everything utterly normal. It was almost like waking from a dream. He stopped the car, but I didn't move.

"I promise to tell you everything on Wednesday before I go on my date with Babs. Really."

I looked up at him, a hint of uncertainty in my voice. "Promise?" I said softly.

"Yeah."

"Okay…um, I'll pay you back for all the dinner and everything-"

He grinned lopsidedly. "No, it's fine."

I hesitated slightly, my hand on the door handle, trying to prolong the moment.

"Kori?" he asked in a slightly different tone- serious, but hesitant as well.

"Yes?" I said, turning back to face him too eagerly.

"Be careful. I…I don't want you getting hurt again…"

I sensed a double meaning in his words. When he said "hurt", did he mean physically or emotionally?

I looked at him with a smirk. "What…what do you mean?"

"…Nothing, just forget it."

I shuddered slightly at the sudden bleakness of his voice, but I was relieved. This, at least, was an easy promise to honor. "Um…sure, whatever."

"Okay, I'll see you on Wednesday," he sighed, and I knew he wanted me to leave now.

"Wednesday it is then," I said as I opened the door.

"Kori?" he called again. I turned, and this time he was leaning towards me, his fair and glorious face just inches away from mine. My heart stopped beating.

"Sleep well," he said. His rugged breath blew in my face, stunning me.

"You too," I whispered in the night breeze. I could've stared into his eyes forever, but the mere thought of him and Babs together nagged me to finally stop. I leaned away, and I could've sworn there was a look of longing on his face.

I stepped out of the large truck awkwardly, having to use the frame from support as I struggled to keep balance with the fifty shopping bags I was holding. I thought I heard him chuckle lightly, but it was too quiet for me to be certain of what I heard.

He waited till I stumbled to the front door, and then I heard the engine of his truck rev. I turned to watch the silver truck drive off into the distance, down the hill and out the gates.

I stepped into the house and out came Galfore and a whole flock of workers who serviced at my home, waiting to hug me.

I seemed I had been away from too long.

* * *

"What the hell!"

I stomped my feet against the ground violently.

There I was, now standing drenched in the middle of a violent rainstorm, looking at the empty parking spot where my newly repaired truck had been parked just hours ago.

To make matters worse, my cell phone was dead out of batteries, and I was standing in the middle of an empty sidewalk at nine' o clock, close to midnight. And I did NOT want to have another encounter with that…Red-X guy.

I dropped my bags and settled on the wet sidewalk. Galfore was out of town on one of his usual business trips, this time to Shanghai, China to meet with some businessmen he had been corresponding with for the last two months.

Just as I thought I go out of my mind with all the shivering that was taking place at that moment, I heard tires screech as I recognized someone stepping on the breaks.

Looking up, I raised an eyebrow. "X- Xavier?" I yelled over the rain in disbelief.

* * *

"So, why Gotham? You could've just done your shopping in Jump and you probably would've been fine walking uphill by yourself," he teased lightly.

I loved his quick wit and the way he could sound funny and sarcastic at the same time.

"Ha, very funny, Xavier," I said, joining in.

We had been driving in his car for about an hour already, and so far our trip was going to last about thirty more minutes.

After a few moments of silence filling up our conversation, he gazed at me with his rich, chocolate brown eyes. "So, where to?"

"Home, I guess," I sighed. "Galfore's out of the country and he's given all the workers a day off."

"Home it is then," he said, his eyes now on the road. "Just tell me where you live."

"So…you'll just drop me off?"

"Yeah."

We sat in silence, and it was moments until I finally spoke up.

"And then?"

"And then I would take you out to the movies tomorrow."

I thought it over with a soft smile. "I'd like that…a lot."

* * *

"The Anders' Manor. Whoa."

I climbed out of the car steadily as he opened the door politely, then leading me to the six-foot tall door that towered over the both of us. We just stood there aimlessly, yet it had some sort of meaning to me.

After placing my palm on the fingerprint reader while having my eyes scanned for identity, and the mechanical gears continued to shift as the latches finally moved and the door opened.

"Um…want to come in?" I gestured

"Is your Uncle here?"

His voice bounced off of the mosaic-tiled walls, echoing throughout the large manor. I could tell from his face that he was surprised with how big my house really was compared to the tiny thing they described my home as in the tabloids.

"Business. I'm pretty much used to staying here alone besides some of the butlers and maids and everything," I shrugged nonchalantly.

We walked upstairs. He threw himself on the couch, resting comfortably, and I tossed him the remote before I headed out of the large loft.

"I'm just going to take a quick shower, okay?" He merely nodded and smiled at me, then turned his attention to _American Idol_, which immediately captivated his attention.

It only took me a couple of minutes to slip into the shower and take a quick rinse. I quickly got dressed into my laced tank top and a pair of pink pajamas.

The doorbell rang.

I quickly made my way downstairs, my hair dripping wet,

"Xavier?" I called making my way down the twenty steps, "Who was that?"

Grunting, I turned the latches and spun the doorknob around until I came face to face, and then I finally looked up, acknowledging the visitor.

Richard.

"Hey, what's up? I thought I wasn't going to see you until tomorrow," I said knowingly, my hands placed on my hips.

I looked into his eyes as he gazed into mine, and I felt stupid afterwards to finally break our gaze.

He pulled out my navy blue sweater from behind his back. "You left this in my car."

Taking it from his hands, I smiled warmly at him. "Thanks."

"So," he said after a couple minutes of silence. "Babs and I broke up this morning."

My eyes widened, and I couldn't tell if I was surprised in a happy or sympathetic way. "This morning? Are you sure you're okay?" I gasped. To my surprise, he chuckled.

Boys. You never know what they're going to do next.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Silence filled the already quiet atmosphere between us once more.

"Kori?"

I kept my gaze on him, and I noticed his sea blue eyes averting its direction to anywhere but me.

He sounded different…different in a more held in way…like he wanted to ask me something of importance.

"Yes?" I asked with a shine of hope in my voice. My eyes gleamed with anticipation.

We were now standing by the stairs, and I clasped my hands together as I tried my best not to show how hopelessly pathetic I was becoming with each ticking second that passed us by.

I couldn't believe it- cool and collected Richard Grayson was actually nervous.

"Well…o-offhand, I was kind of hoping you would want to go on a d-"

"Richard? What are you doing here, dude?"

I froze immediately, gripping the stair railing harder with my unusual strength as I heard it crunch more and more each time. His eyes, Richard's, not dark with anger as they usually were, looked pained and suddenly surprised by my appearance, holding some sort of a longing. But was it for me?

I cleared my throat, still looking at Richard. "H-hey Xavier."

"Hey," he said back, directing it towards Xavier, and he seemed so…hurt. A wave of unseen emotion flooded across in his eyes, and I felt a pang of guilt for some reason. But why was it that I felt that I had to? It wasn't like we were going out or anything…

Looking back and forth at us, Xavier stood between the both of us, bewildered at our strange and silenced behavior. Obviously he wasn't the only one who had observed our actions at school.

"What are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

A hard look came across his eyes, and I felt hopeless as it stayed there, never going away. He coughed, clearing his throat as he gestured to the jacket I was holding to my side. "I was just dropping off Kori's sweater."

We all stood, an empty silence filling up the space between us, and it took me a minute or two to realize that Richard and Xavier were practically looking each other down.

"Um…guys?" I asked, panic written all over my face. "Are you okay?"

Richard shoved his hands in his pockets and began heading slowly for the door, walking backwards as he did so. "Yeah…actually, I was just about to leave."

He walked to the door, this time in his normal pace before I placed my hand gently on his shoulder. "Wait, what were saying before-"

But I felt my eyes begin to water as he shrugged it off, almost coldly. "-It was nothing, really."

He ran out the door, but just a few seconds before I closed the door, Richard's eyes darkened with rage, and I watched his car disappear in tears.

* * *

**A/N: OMG! Is there anybody here who watches "American Idol"? I'm so freaking pissed because my favorite person on that show, Elliot Yamin, got eliminated tonight! THIS SUCKS!**

**Well, I think 11 pages and 3,507words is enough for one chapter. Don't forget to review, review, and review!**

**THE NEXT CHAPTER MAY OR MAY NOT BE IN RICHARD'S POINT OF VIEW (JUST TELLING EVERYBODY THIS IN ADVANCE SO THAT NO ONE GETS CONFUSED.)**

_**Sneak Peek of the next chapter:**_

"_So you're dating him now."_

"Yes_, I'm dating him! I'm actually starting to like this guy! Why is there something _wrong_ with that?" _

"_Because watching him with you is starting to drive me crazy!" he yelled back._

_My eyes softened. "W-…why is that?" I whispered softly._

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

I hated myself. And I think Richard hated me at the moment too.

What was I thinking letting Xavier into the house? I hardly knew him or liked him, yet here I was, freaking out over what dress I should wear to the movies. I had even called Rachel over, interrupting her meditation hours.

The doorbell rang soon enough, and I soon came face-to-face with an unhappy and irritable goth, one of the worst ten seconds you may ever experience in your life. I smiled sheepishly and clasped my hands together.

"Want to come to the movies?"

A raised eyebrow and a happy smirk was the only response I got from her for the next ten seconds. "Good," she said in her monotone voice, "Because you owe Gar and me one for ditching us for a private jet."

I was only too happy to have someone else accompany me.

* * *

Xavier didn't seem too happy about the addition of Gar and Raven at first. It seemed like six people going to the movies was more of like bunch of kids trying to nab seats in the theaters instead of a date. I hadn't forgotten about the fact that it had originally been a double date, but when I asked Xavier who the other couple was, he kept telling me that they were just some of his friends.

I stepped out of my brand new Escalade, wowing bystanders as they strolled by my car. I had picked out a pair of faded jeans together with a simple, long-sleeved burgundy tee, and suede boots for the unusually cold spring breeze that night. After a countless amount of attempts to find the perfect hairstyle, Raven and I had finally decided at a simple high ponytail. Raven, though, had no problem trying to pull strings for an outfit. A loose, black vintage tee, jeans, and some Converse shoes had her all set with her date with Gar.

We had all taken separate cars for some reason; Xavier insisted that we did so in case there was an "emergency".

I walked inside the theater, and after looking through a sea of different faces; I finally spotted him waving towards me. Walking with a smile plastered on my face, I mouthed to him that I had to go to the restroom. He merely nodded, and just before I went into the bathroom I noticed Gar and Raven coming in just then, their arms linked.

Checking my image in the mirror for five minutes, Raven suddenly burst in, breathless.

"Um, Rae? The panting is starting to scare me," I pointed out jokingly.

"Couple…guy…you like…is here…"

I finally stopped fiddling with my hair and raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"Just get outside."

I felt a feeling of angst get to me. "Why?" I asked, suspicious of what was waiting for me outside the girl's bathroom.

"Just _go_," she said, this time in an exasperated voice.

After a couple of minutes of her pushing and shoving me, I was out of the girls' room and looking at her incredulously as she stood next to me. "What?" I asked impatiently. But soon enough, almost like two magnets, my gaze met with a pair of familiar blue eyes. I turned around almost instantly, only to find Raven with a knowing smirk. What a big help that was.

"What the is he doing here?" Chewing my recently polished nails, I hid behind her. "I can't let him see me with Xavier!"

"Kori, you can't hide behind my shirt forever. It looks like he and your date are getting along." Her hands pushed me towards their direction once more, and I suddenly found myself face-to-face with Richard.

He looked at me. "Hey," he said emotionless.

"H-hi."

It was the silence between us that made me realize that a murmuring crowd had formed a circle around us, whispering relentlessly, making me blush. Xavier and the rest of them weren't anywhere in sight, and after a few minutes of just plain gawking at us, the last person in the huddled and suffocating crowd finally disappeared.

"So what are you doing here at the same time and day as me? Xavier said he was bringing some girl with him but he never mentioned you."

I winced at the sharpness of his voice, but I was glad to find that I had some dignity left in me. "Who else do you think invited Garfield and Raven? _I'm_ with Xavier," I retaliated.

"What?" His voice suddenly took a different tone, and his voice sounded disbelievingly jealous. I watched at the familiar sight of him grinding his teeth and curling his hands into tight fists. "He said he wouldn't…" he mumbled furiously.

My eyes narrowed curiously, and I looked at him skeptically. "He said he wouldn't what?"

"Nothing."

I was just about to open my mouth to say something to him until a pair of slim hands slid themselves onto his shoulders.

"Hey baby," purred a familiar voice, and a glint of red hair was all that I needed to recognize her.

But to my luck, Richard raised his eyebrows tiredly and took her hands off his shoulders, sighing in exasperation and wariness. "Babs, we already went through this. We broke up…just leave it as it is."

She stomped her foot on the ground crossly as soon as turned around, scowling as she did, and pouted as she made her way to the line leading into the theater. I turned to Xavier with a sigh of pure and utter relief.

"Cutie," he said, and as I threw a quick glance towards Richard, I thought I saw him flinch. "Come' on, I saved us seats." As soon as he took my hand, my thoughts of the possibility of Richard and Babs back together again whisked away once more for the moment.

It turned out to be one of the scariest movies I had ever seen in my entire life that we watched…but also awkward at the same time. I sat between Richard and Xavier. Every time something popped out of the middle of nowhere, I would squeeze Xavier's hand and duck down. But Richard remained stiff; his face was firm and grim, and he didn't look like he was paying very much attention to the movie. I often felt him glancing towards me, and he seemed to clear his throat every time I turned to Xavier.

The movie finally ended after two and a half hours of pointless aliens. The only person who wasn't spooked was Raven; she wore the same bored expression while Garfield kept ranting on and on about the possibility of UFOs in the city.

It wasn't too long until a beeping sound emerged from Richard's pocket, and he nodded sternly towards Babs and Xavier. "We have to go; Victor and all of them will meet us there."

All six of us were outside the theater now, and I wore a mixed expression on my face, wondering if this was the "emergency" Xavier had been talking about. Richard and Barbara began to run down the recently rained-down streets, but Xavier stayed behind.

He came closer until our faces were inches apart, and he grinned. "We should do this again sometime," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"U-um, sure," I replied back uncertainly. There was something about the way he was looking at me that made me suspicious of what might be on his mind at that moment. The next thing I knew, Xavier's lips were making its way towards my face. "What are you doing?" I asked, pushing him away. Behind him, Richard had turned around, and an angry looked crossed his face as he began to run toward us.

"Come' on cutie, it's no big deal, geez, can't a guy kiss a girl?"

"Look, would you stop calling me that? I-"

His laugh made it sound as though he were drunk and after that he said nothing and continued to attempt to kiss me, this time squeezing my wrists tightly.

"Ow! Xavier, what-"

His lips crashed down on mine, and as I looked around, the streets had begun to empty out as it struck nine. My back crashed into the brick wall, and I tried to push him away from me again, but this time he held on to my shoulders firmly, and I winced at the pain.

All of a sudden, something pulled him away from me, and when I opened my eyes after sighing from relief, he was lying on the cement, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and Richard stood there angrily, his fists curled up.

"Stay away from her," he said in a grim, cold tone.

Nothing was said, and it was only seconds later when he got up and ran, following Barbara's footsteps around the corner. I looked at Richard's grim expression, his handsome features now stern and firm, making him look more attractive than ever.

"Thanks," I said softly after I finally caught my breath.

He looked at me. "He likes to mess around with girls a lot like that. I…I just don't want to see that happen to someone like you."

I smirked and raised my eyebrow knowingly. "What makes me so different?" I challenged playfully.

"Well…" he began, but then trailed off. "Never mind."

We stood in silence again, and I thought the awkwardness would never stop. "I have to go now. Galfore's been pretty strict about my curfew lately, so I'd better be heading home."

He continued to keep eye contact with me, and the intensity of his stare was making me nervous. "See you Monday at school," he said. After a few moments, he added, "Babs and Xavier might be looking for me by now, so I guess I'm gone after this too."

I checked my cell phone. It was almost nine-twenty. I didn't have much time left. He was already jogging to the same place Xavier and Barbara were headed to, and without thinking, I called out his name. "Richard!"

He turned back and jogged back to me, puzzled. "Are you okay? Do you need a-"

But he cut himself off when I jumped up and hugged him impulsively, then running off hurryingly.

"Bye!" I called back again, and this time I guess I left an impact on him, because he stood there dumbfounded, and a silly grin stayed on his face before he ran back around the corner.

* * *

_Ring!_

I sat in my seat quietly, suddenly wishing I were still on vacation. Even I had to admit that it had been one hell of a spring break. Students poured in from the door.

"Hey."

I jumped slightly, startled by the sweet sound of his voice, and soon I came face to face with Richard's blue eyes staring at me, and the intensity of his gaze was making me nervous.

"Oh! I didn't see you there," I giggled.

Up in front of the class, Mr. Barnes and Mrs. Hatfield continued on with their obvious flirting (which I had been observing since my first couple of days at school), trying to act as if no one could tell. The class, which was filled mostly of gossiping girls, perverts, and class clowns, left Richard and I talking by ourselves in the table we shared.

"So…about last week…" he began.

"-Don't worry about it; it's all behind us now."

"Sorry about the way Xavier was acting. He does that a lot around our targ- I mean, around our new friends."

Was it just me or was he about to say "targets"? I nodded and smiled, and I couldn't believe that I was still shy around his presence. "Really, I'm fine."

"So…wanna ditch?"

I turned my head sharply towards him, looking at him in disbelief. "What? How are you going to do that?"

"Mr. Barnes falls for anything." He walked up to the twenty-nine year old teacher, and after a few minutes of conversing with him, he winked at me with a sly gleam in his eyes as he strode out of the classroom.

My mouth was still open, aghast, and the girl sitting at the lab station behind me tapped my shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked, obviously concerned.

I opened my mouth but then silenced myself when Mr. Barnes finally started the class.

"Sorry for the short delay, class. I know that my…err…_conference_ with Mrs. Hatfield has cut into some of our class time, but I think we'll be able to do our lab today."

"What exactly are we doing today, Mr. Barnes?" asked a thin and stickly figure, Annette, also known as the quirky, nerdy teacher's pet.

"We will be determining our blood types with these needles."

Needles? Blood? Needles _and_ blood? I hated anything and everything that had to do with those two things! The closest I had ever gotten to a needle was when I had gotten a butterfly tattoo to get rid of my _fear_ of needles. It didn't change anything though.

After showing us basically how to stab our own fingers, he took a small vial from nearby and let the blood drip into the container. Soon the whole class was poking themselves, and after closing my eyes and punching the needle into my skin, I felt air being whisked right past me as I sat unstably. I tried to pick up the vial next to me but the only thing I could focus my eyes on was the blood dripping on the lab station. I heard a shattering sound after that, and soon I realized that the vial was no longer in my hand.

Groaning, I rested the side of my head against the cold table.

"Kori? Is everything okay?" boomed Mr. Barnes' deep voice.

'_Do I look okay!'_ was something I was dying to scream at the moment, but everything was just too hazy and blurry.

"I don't feel so good," I whined childishly, but I was too distracted by the searing vision I had at the moment.

"Roy, take her to the nurse's office, please."

Soon my arm was draped around Roy's shoulders as we hobbled awkwardly to the other side of the campus.

"Wait, stop," I whispered dizzily. "It's too far. J-just let me rest here for a second."

I sat next to the flowerbed and held my head in my hands. After a few seconds, a pair of feet stood across from Roy's, and what they were saying was something I couldn't make out.

"Kori, are you all right? Can you hear me?" came his sweet voice.

"No," I groaned.

I heard laughter. Suddenly I felt myself being picked up by a pair of strong, steel arms. Warily, I pounded against the person's back, throwing a violent fit.

"Put me down! I don't need help!"

I must have passed out after that, because when I woke up, my blurry vision began to subside and I soon found myself looking into a pair of worried deep-blue eyes.

"What's going on?" I groaned tiredly.

"You fainted in biology. Are you okay?" he asked.

"I feel better at the least," I said, making intense eye contact with him. Mrs. Delapp wasn't in the room at the moment, and I thought it was the right moment to talk to him.

"Aren't you supposed to be ditching right now? Why are you still here?"

"I just…um…decided to stay for the science lab," he answered nonchalantly, though I did notice that it took him longer to answer than it usually did.

"You're kidding, right?" I giggled with a raised eyebrow.

He merely smiled at me and leaned against the counter when Mrs. Delapp, the school nurse, ran in panic-stricken.

"Okay! I'm all set! If she doesn't wake up in a couple more minutes, I have all the shots ready for her, I brought the right pills, the alcohol is here, Band-Aids, gauze, cotton balls, cotton swabs, Neosporin, needles-"

"I think she's fine now, Mrs. Delapp," he answered coolly, but I caught a twinkle lighting up in his eyes when she mentioned the needles and the shots.

Turning, she jumped and placed a hand over her heart. "Oh! I think I was even more scared than Richard!" She cleaned up all the medical supplies and when she walked back in, she smiled kindly at me. "You know, you could go home now. You don't have to wait until school ends."

She walked out of the room, leaving Richard leaning on the counter once more. I stood up, smoothening out my jeans. Turning around, I suddenly found myself face to face with Richard, our noses only about a couple inches apart.

I stared at him blankly, lost in his blue eyes. "Um…"

"Need a ride?" he asked, and smiling that perfect, crooked smile just the way I liked it, he took my hand and led me out the school, and I felt a dizzy feeling come over me. It wasn't the dizzy feeling that came over me when I was staring at my own blood, but the kind of feeling that kept sweeping me off my feet over and over again.

Could it possibly be-

No, I highly doubted that. But deep down, did I really?

Was I, Kori Anders, in…love?

**

* * *

A/N: Another chapter finished! I'm sorry it took me longer than usual to update, but the past two weeks have been nothing but finals and tests.**

**Poll question for you here: Are you going to buy the Teen Titans DTV movie when it's released on DVD? I think it comes out sometime this summer or whatever…**

**Anyways, hope you liked it; REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Another chapter! Thanks to everyone who took the time to review for chapter eight; I really appreciate the effort! Also, please excuse this poorly edited chapter; I've been so caught up with sports and community service stuff **

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to Kor Anders! Thanks for reviewing; you rock!**

* * *

This whole week all I could think about was Richard. Those blue eyes never ceased to stop haunting my every dream, and whenever I woke up in the middle of the night, I would always feel as they were _watching_ me. I remained sleepless this week, and I received my first lunch detention for sleeping in class three days in a row.

As I sat on my bed recollecting this week's on goings on a Friday night, the cold breeze from my window suddenly flew in. Startled, I looked towards the direction of my balcony, and I gasped when I realized that no one was there. I could have sworn that my balcony door was closed and that all five of the locks were latched in tightly.

In my silk nightgown, I ran out to the balcony quickly in hopes of catching somebody or something. But there was nobody there, no shadows cast to give me the slightest bit idea of what was going on.

That was the last straw though. I'd had enough of this house and its "mysterious" happenings. I knew Galfore had a strict regulation with my curfew, but being cooped up in the house since three o'clock made me anxious to take a walk in the park, even if that meant it was close to eleven p.m. as of now. Galfore _was_ on his business trip in England…I guess that this fact meant that I could get away with it this time.

Excited about the idea of getting away from my never ending boredom at our manor, I ran into my closet and pulled on some jeans and a black, long-sleeved tee with a pair of beige Ugg boots for the unusually cold, spring night; it must have been at least 51 degrees outside.

I tiptoed quietly and stood on the thin rails of the balcony edge, then hopping onto the thick branch of the large oak tree that just so happened to be right next to the left side of my window. As soon as I got down, I ran as fast as I could towards the high brick wall and when I reached the other side, I skipped down the empty road to embrace the night sky.

* * *

Jump City's park was practically deserted when I got there, except for a couple making out at one of the picnic tables. But soon they left too, and I was sure that I was the only one walking around the park.

Walking down the paved path, I hugged my shoulders skittishly, frightened from all the rustling behind the bushes and trees. I rested on the closest bench I could find and sat there stiffly, still new to all the night sounds. I was finally starting to calm myself down when I heard rustling and faint police sirens.

"It's the thieves," called a distant voice, "Quick, call for backup!"

I gasped when six shadowy figures were hopping from building to building, coming closer to the park. And it was sooner than I expected that they were.

They flew from tree to tree; one of the slender figures was holding a big bag that kept on spilling rubies and diamonds, and the other three males were dodging the cops' bullets and knocking out an entire police force.

Helicopters' propellers began to echo in the once silent sky, and I ducked behind the bush beside me, hoping to be unseen. Channel four news just so happened to be the only channel Galfore seemed to watch 24/7, and if the news caught footage of the crime scene…I would be _so_ dead when I came home.

There was no way I could just run out without being spotted by the police, but as I looked at my surroundings a few minutes later, I realized that every cop was down and almost all the police cars had flat tires and missing halves.

"I'm going to go this way!" yelled a familiar voice.

"No! This route gets us home faster!"

I peeked out from out of the leaves and saw a masked teen with spiky hair and a black and orange suit with metal shoes and shoulder blades quarreling with a redhead in a black body suit and a mask. I guessed this was the leader.

"We have to split up! The cops are about two steps behind us; it'll be safer for us to go separate ways."

The girl handed him the bag. They took separate paths; the boy was headed towards the bridge while the other five started to run the opposite direction.

I waited for about ten minutes for them to disappear, and I finally took a breath of fresh air when they left as I jumped out from behind the bush. Checking my watch, I saw that it was already one o'clock in the morning. I guess another hour or two out was okay as long as I got home by six.

Only a few minutes of pure silence went by when I saw the five assassins shooting at the police cars racing past me. I was already in the middle of the bridge I was crossing when I realized that there were army tanks lined up across the entrance and exit of the large brick bridge, and hundreds of policemen were holding their guns out as they stood by their police cars.

"You," a voice called over a speaker, and a bright light shone in my eyes. "Stay where you are."

I froze almost instantly; the other five were right beside me. Suddenly, I felt myself being tugged forward and into the arms of X.

He held a dagger pressed against my neck, and with the other arm he shot a hook that reached the top of the bridge. Did I ever mention how scared I was of heights?

"Don't cry, Cutie…the pain won't last too long," his robotic voice whispered into my ear.

His tone…now that I thought of it, only one other person besides him called me "Cutie"…

I felt the knife slicing into my skin slightly, a few drops of blood dripping down my neck. Now hyperventilating, I heard the red-haired girl doing the same on the side.

"No! X, don't. There are too many of them," she breathed as she referred to the hundreds of policemen down on their knees ready to shoot. She pulled out a circular device and pressed the buttons on the side of it, and soon a timer started to count down from _30…_and then _29…28…27…26…_

A _bomb_.

"Put your hands up and stay where you are!" called a voice. The clicks of ready guns echoed in my ear, and I couldn't help but keep my eyes glued to the timer.

…_18…17…16…15…14…_

"Okay, we surrender!" bellowed the half robot. They suddenly began to move towards each other slowly, taking tiny steps as they did so.

"Release the hostage!" cried the same voice from down below.

…_10…9…8…7…6…_

They remained frozen, and for once I tore my eyes off the timer. Sly smirks and sinister grins were plastered on their faces as the timer began to beep faster and faster.

"I said, release the hostage!"

Suddenly, I felt Xavier's dagger off my throat as he stepped to the side.

…_5…4…_

"This one? You can have her," she laughed scornfully.

…_3…2…_

"Xavier, throw it, now!"

And right then and there, I felt someone's hands roughly shove me off the one hundred sixty-foot tall bridge. I watched as the green object began to descend faster than me, then landing on one of the shiny black police cars.

Boom.

As soon as I blinked my eyes, almost everything below me was on a raging fire, and car engines began to leak with gasoline.

Everything went in slow motion after I stopped screaming in my head. As I continued to fall, I realized that I was going to be one of many people who were going to be burnt alive. Galfore, Raven, Beastboy…Richard…were they all going to forget my name as soon as my funeral was over?

I landed on the cement hard; I was sure that I had at least broken a hip or something as I lay sprawled on the ground. I was in the middle of a ring of fire, and the more it closed in on me the more delirious I got. The heat was getting to me, and faster than I could even imagine…

Holy hell. I was going to die.

Suddenly, something swooped down, and soon I found myself staring at a blurry masked teen. He began to walk towards me slowly, saying something that I was too dizzy to make out. I began to back away frighteningly, but I realized that the fire was closing in too fast for me to escape alive. His face began to seem clearer to me as I snapped back to my senses, my blurry vision subsiding.

"It's okay," he said. "I don't want to hurt you; I just want to get you out of here safely."

"N-no! You're part of th-that team of assassins!"

I jumped to my feet surprisingly fast and tried to stand as far away from him in the small circle of fire closing in on us.

He tried to put his hand on my shoulder. "Just-"

"No!"

"I didn't want to have to do this," he muttered underneath the raging flames just inches away from us.

"Do what? Eeek!"

I found out two seconds later when he slung me over his shoulder, and then threw clawed rope that hooked onto the side of a building.

"Eeek! Where are you taking me?" I yelled over the hundreds of sirens.

"Almost a quarter of the city is on fire; I need to take you somewhere safe."

"How about- hmm, I don't know- home!" I said sarcastically.

"I never knew you were so feisty," he said chuckling.

I stayed silent for a couple of minutes while we swung in almost every direction towards my way home. But then I remembered something.

"Wait! You…you can't take me home," I said uncertainly.

We landed suddenly on a building. "What?" he asked disbelievingly.

"By the time we get there, the manor will be surrounded by police. There'll be no way in."

* * *

"The sewer?"

I looked at the murky water that was ruining my precious boots and I could've sworn something was tickling the outside of my boot. Gross.

"Don't worry; just follow me."

I trailed behind his every step, sometimes standing too close to him whenever I saw sewer rats scurrying away as our feet splashed in the water while we walked down the smelly place.

"Um…I don't want to sound impatient, but, um, where does this _lead_ to?"

He remained silent until he reached a door. Opening it, he gestured for me to go in first and then followed in. There was another door inside, but this time there was a keypad.

"_PASSWORD PLEASE?"_

He typed something in quickly.

"_VOICE PASSWORD PLEASE?"_

"Robin," he said, and soon enough, the doors slid open to reveal a luxurious loft.

Gasping, I walked in and took in everything I saw. A huge screen hung on the right side of the large den, which must have been at least the size of my house. On the other side hung the artillery and weapons; the lasers that were even taller than me were fascinating.

"This is…I mean, is this where you live?"

He laughed. It frustrated me how I couldn't figure out who he was. "No, this is just an extra hideout for emergencies like right now."

Glancing down at my ruined boots, I carelessly kicked them off and jumped on the soft couch at ease. I didn't realize he had changed until I saw him coming to the couch in navy blue pajamas and a white shirt, his mask still covering his eyes. He finally rested beside me and stared at me.

"So you got bored, huh?" he asked after a couple minutes of silence.

I turned to him confused. "What do mean?"

"You took a walk in one of Jump City's most dangerous parks at night."

"How did you know about that?"

A faint blush crept across his cheeks as he turned his head to look away. "I…I've been visiting your house at night recently…"

I took a double take at what he said. "You- you…you've been watching me sleep?"

I groaned inwardly and outwardly. Sleep talking was one of the things I frequently did whenever I was worn out.

"So I'm guessing you've heard me talk in my sleep, and um…w-well what kinds of things do I say?"

"The first night I came to your porch, which by the way you really need to start locking, you mentioned some, um, s-some guy named Richard. After that I stopped by whenever I could."

We talked for a couple more hours, and the next time I looked at the clock, it had already passed two hours! We sat in silence, finally running out of things to talk to each other about. But what bugged me the most was that I still couldn't recognize who he was; he was bound to be someone from Jump City. His laugh, his smile…it all seemed too familiar.

"Why did you save me?" I whispered, and by now our faces were only inches away from each other.

"What do you mean?" his rugged voice said softly, and it almost seemed as though we had known each other forever.

"The rest of your team…I mean, they tried to _kill_ me. Aren't you supposed to be on their side?"

"I don't know…"

We drew in closer towards each other and I tried to catch my breath. We were so close…so close…

I reached up to run my hands up his cheek, but they soon stopped at one of the ends of his mask. I began to peel the end off slowly but his hand caught mine in a flash.

"What's wrong?" I asked with concern.

"When you see who I really am…don't…don't run away; try not to be angry."

"What are you talking about?" I continued to peel the mask off, and when I found myself staring into familiar sea blue eyes, I was too shocked to move or say anything.

Oh…my…_god_.

Richard. Jump City's prince just so happened to also be Jump City's most wanted by the government.

"You…" My voice trailed off as I stood up abruptly and started to back away to the corner of the room.

"Kori, wait, please-"

"This…this is how you knew about that car accident, huh? And the weapons on the plane! How could you?" I shrieked.

I started to head up the stairs to the exit but he caught up to me and gently pulled my hand back. "You can't go back out there!" he yelled, and I stopped myself from almost wincing in intimidation.

"Why? Is your team still looking for me?" I yelled back sarcastically, my skinny hands curled up into fists.

"There's a fire on the streets right above us!"

I began to hyperventilate dangerously, and soon enough I could feel myself almost choking because of how fast I was breathing. I was having an anxiety attack.

Richard picked me up bridal style and set me down on the couch, taking both of my slender hands into his. Lifting up my chin with one of his hands, my breathing began to slow down as I continued to stare into his eyes.

Pure stillness took over the room and soon began to ring in my ears while we continued to move closer and closer towards each other until our noses touched, and soon the gap between our lips was closed.

Love was stupid…right?

R-iiiiight…

**

* * *

A/N: I thought I was through with writing cheesy romantic scenes between characters, but I guess not.**

**So now Kori knows who Richard's other identity really is, so for all of you who are still totally confused, in the next chapter everything will be explained to Kori by Richard.**

**Poll question: Should Kori have powers in this fic? Two of my friends suggested it but I'm still not too sure…**

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey there!**

**Majority of you guys said in your reviews that it would be a spoiler to give Kori Anders superpowers in the story, and I totally agree with you! Anyways, thanks for giving me your opinion!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my 150th reviewer, _I'mA RockStar_ ! Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

"Eeek!"

Roller coasters were things I would ride all day long if I could, but the steep nosedives and swift speed we were traveling at were _killing_ me. I was a little drowsy a few minutes ago when we were climbing out the sewer, but I was wide awake by now.

Richard laughed, and I could almost imagine his blue eyes lighting up underneath his mask. "Don't worry, we're not too far."

It was five in the morning. Firefighters were still putting out small fires, and a little piece of our city was in burnt ruins.

Soon enough, we landed swiftly on my balcony, my window still wide open from my midnight getaway. I heard his clawed rope withdraw into its tiny shell.

"Um…want to come in or something?" I asked uncertainly.

"If it's alright with…um…"

"-It's okay, Galfore's on another one of his business trips."

I climbed in through the open window and threw myself tiredly on the soft cushiony bed that offered itself to me. He did the same thing and for what seemed like a long time, we lay there, facing each other in silence. A tired feeling suddenly came over me and my eyes began to flutter closed.

"I'm so tired," I mumbled sleepily. Yawning, I opened my eyes to look into his. He wasn't too close to me, but he wasn't that far away either.

"I have to go."

He stood up and placed his mask back onto his face, walking back towards the balcony. I shook myself out of my sleepy state and hopped off the bed, following him to the door.

"Wait! Before you go…um…you _are_ going to be speaking to me on Monday…right?"

Silence filled the air as we stood alone, and his face was turned away from me.

"You will, right?" I repeated, this time with more angst and force.

His fingers began to fumble around nervously. "I can't…"

Anger took over me in a raging fury. "What's wrong this time? Every time something goes on between us you always choose to ignore me the next day!"

I only noticed my panting a few seconds after my outburst, when he turned around and ripped the mask off of his face, his blue eyes furious.

"I don't have a choice; I've been reading their thoughts recently, and they've been thinking of killing you themselves!"

"You…wait…you can read minds? Were you born with this?" I scoffed disbelievingly.

Richard smirked. "Raven taught me."

I burst out in giggles. Then, raising one of my eyebrows suspiciously, I gazed at his face. "Then tell me, what am I thinking now?"

"Your mind is the only thing in the world that I can't get into."

I sat on the bed again and stared at him surprised. "Then how did you find me in the alley with Red-X?"

He turned away, his figure hiding amongst the shadows in the corner of my room. "I saw your face in his thoughts…what he was going to do with you…"

A frightening thought flashed in my head as I began to eye the suddenly noticeable gun hanging on the side of his belt. "But I don't understand," I said softly. "Why can't you just kill me right now? I'm right here standing in front of you…why are you waiting?"

He opened the doors once more and I followed him to the balcony. "I work for another agency, one that's been trying to track them and their leader down for a long time. I was sent undercover a year ago to figure out what their motives are."

"But-"

"You can trust me; I won't let them hurt you."

Staring at the green willow tree, I sighed wistfully, averting my green eyes away from his gorgeous, icy blue orbs, which I then found out was one of the hardest things to do. I felt his eyes boring into me with an intense gaze. I loved being in his presence, but at the same time I wanted to hit him as hard as I could for making me feel so lightheaded around him.

I cleared my throat softly and he stepped back from the balcony slowly, almost regretfully. A tiny, gentle smile crossed my face for a moment, and curse him for having so much power over me.

"I have to go," he said. He was getting ready to jump off until I put my hand on his shoulder without thinking.

"Richard?"

Swerving around, he took his mask off and his eyes seemed regretful, yet hopeful at the same time. "Yeah?"

I let my eyes fall in shame. "I'm really sorry about coming down so hard on you tonight." Breathing began to get hard for me suddenly. "I didn't mean to be such a hassle, you rescuing me all the time, I owe you a lot-"

His lips cut me off as they pressed softly onto mine, and he laid his hand on my cheek lightly. The crackling of our lips pressing together was the only sound in the still night, until another siren was heard.

I pulled away gently, looking away shyly and trying my best not to smile like some kind of lovesick fool. "You should go; they could be looking for you," I said softly.

Slipping on his mask, he hopped onto the thin railing of the balcony, squatting as he cupped my chin with his hand, tilting it up gently towards the moonlight. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

And in the blink of an eye, he was gone, blending in with the blinding shadows as I watched from the very edge of my terrace. His tall and lean figure turned to look back at my direction before it disappeared within seconds.

* * *

Monday. It was the day I had been dreading for more than 24 hours. The school year was winding down quicker than I imagined, and graduation day was going to be in a couple of weeks.

I examined my outfit in the mirror. The plain black leggings that hugged my legs made me seem much taller than my usual height, and my halter-top above the knee burgundy tunic shirt made me look less orange than I already was.

When I got to period one, Richard was already there, staring at me as if he had been waiting for me for a long time. But as I sat down in my usual spot beside him, he began to stiffen just like he had on my first day of school.

Taking a pencil out of my bag, I began to start the essay assignment written on the whiteboard while Mr. Barnes did his usual flirting routine with Mrs. Hatfield. I sighed as I finished up the paper, and I allowed my red hair to fall as a barrier between us.

Mr. Barnes rushed back into the room, panting and breathless. "So," he said, back to his stern and deep, "Miss Anders, why don't you tell us your answer?" Now was the only instance that I took the time to notice how sinister Mr. Barnes' voice sounded to me. I pushed the thought out of my head carelessly.

Through the strands of hair and from the corner of my eye, I saw Richard's head tilt reflectively in my direction. Well, it was nice to know that all I would be getting from him today was a tiny GLANCE!

Even with my temper about to explode any minute, I tried to look as innocent as I could towards Mr. Barnes. "Um, I put 'millisecond' down as my answer," I said pleasantly.

"Correct," he mumbled absentmindedly, turning back to his desk as the whole class went about their usual chatter. The school year was winding down, and our AP class ran out of things to do and lessons to learn.

Sighing again in my bored state, I drummed my fingers against the table. Knowing that Richard and I had our "No-contact-during-school" deal was torturing me! When the bell rang after what seemed like years of being trapped inside that classroom, I was the first one out the door.

Eventually, lunch came, and as I walked from the lunch line carrying my tray, I caught sight of Raven, smiling and waving at her while power-walking towards our usual table.

Raven's eyes were practically burning with anger as I sat down. "You'll never guess what…"

Just a little bit frightened, I took a bite of my pizza. "Um, what?"

"Remember how I was absent from school on Friday, the day we had to turn our poetry project for English?"

I merely nodded my head, my attention divided between her words and the fact that Richard's eyes kept meeting mine every time I looked at his direction. I avoided looking at anything near his table. But soon it was harder to resist, and I promised myself one more peek.

I looked over slowly and nonchalantly, but when I did I found that I couldn't tear my eyes away from the sight. Richard's arm was wrapped around Babs, and for a minute I was sure there was nothing going on between them until he kissed her passionately. Tears began to swim in my eyes.

"Well I was- are you even listening to me?"

I snapped my head quicker than I wanted to and groaned when I felt my neck crack. I forced the tears away eventually and looked up. "Uh, sure."

"Well anyways, I gave her the project before school that morning and she took credit for the whole thing! Now I have a C- while she has an A+." She looked disgustedly at their table, and I followed her gaze. I noticed a gloomy faced Garfield with his elbows on the table resting his long face in his hands.

"Um, why is _Gar_ sitting with them?"

Her pretty pale face suddenly drained of even more color (which I really didn't think was even possible for someone as pale as her), and her violet eyes went dead. "He-"

_BRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNGG!_

I jumped slightly when the bell rang louder than normal, and I looked over at Raven's face, still a little sadder than it usually did.

"Meet me after school by my silver Volkswagen? Maybe you could stay over or something," I said as I walked down through the bustling halls beside her.

Her eyes lightened up, but nevertheless she replied back in her monotonous voice, "Sure. My mother's going to be out of town for the whole week."

I was beaming until I brushed shoulders with someone, and I looked back to find Babs glaring at me as well, sending me a look so vile that I wanted to kick her.

Though I didn't think this day could get any worse, I stood corrected when I got into my Advanced Placement English class.

I felt myself awkwardly set my things down on the table that we shared, careful to keep my distance from him. As class began to come to an end, I kept my eyes away from his direction, and I swallowed when he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Kori, there's something I need to-"

Luckily, the bell rang just in time. I shrugged his hand off. "I can't talk right now," I said in a rush, and I stalked out of the room to the parking lot. I didn't notice him following me until I hear him calling my name.

"Kori! Kori, wait!" The crowd kept on pulling him back as I walked even faster to my truck, but he eventually caught up to me.

"I need to tell you something-"

I opened my door and slammed it shut, rolling down my window. "I'm sorry," I said softly. Backing out of the parking space, I drove out as fast as I could. This was going to be one reckless drive home.

* * *

The whole week went pretty much the same. Richard and Babs were getting even more kissy-faced with each other, but I could still feel him stealing glances at me once in a while, and usually as he did I just pretended to laugh amongst my friends as if I was just fine without him…

…Which I really wasn't.

What I did find weird and unexplainable was that he left abruptly in the middle of class on Wednesday and was absent the rest of the week. Was it because he was sick or something? He had looked just fine to me the day before…

Friday came, and by this time Rachel had been staying over my house for three days now. I didn't mind having her over; it was nice to have a friend like her around.

"So what's up with you and Gar? I thought you guys were like, together already?" I asked with my mouth full of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven.

We both sat on my bed, stuffing our faces with cookies. Raven sat in silence, only sighing as she bent her head down.

Looking up at me again, she sighed wistfully. "We were never together, but we came real close though…Ugh, Kori, you're turning me into one of those stupid overly emotional wannabe preppy girls."

I laughed. "You're welcome," I smiled sarcastically.

Silence took over the room for a couple of minutes. The only thing we could hear in the nine o'clock skies were trees swaying from the slight breeze and the gentle wind making it's way in my room.

Raven cleared her throat suddenly. "Listen, I know you know my secret…"

My eyes widened. I didn't want her to get mad at Richard for telling me, so…

"Err…hehe…what secret?" I laughed nervously, trying to sound convincing.

Raising her eyebrows, a smirk was plastered on her porcelain face as I looked up at her from my bent over posture. "No wonder you don't lie," she said emotionlessly, "You suck at it."

I tried hard to suppress a giggle, but it all came bursting out, and I guess it was contagious because Raven laughed for the first time since I had met her. But we sat through another passing of awkward silence once more.

"If you must know, Richard told me. How did you know anyways?"

"Being psychic practically runs in my blood. Some of my great-great ancestors were gypsies. Richard had some kind of guilt and feeling of betrayal running through his mind, so I figured that he told you or something. I feel other people's emotions…except for yours."

I froze in the middle of biting another cookie. "Me? I don't get it; that's the exact same thing Richard said to me after he told me that he could read minds."

"To be honest," Raven said, "You are pretty complex. And so is your life."

"What do you mean? There's nothing more to me than being another one of those heiresses with a bunch of money. Nothing complex about that," I reasoned out in despair.

"There's nothing normal about you. Your parents were found dead in a parking lot, with no clue of how they died or who their killer was. Your sister fled home, and you're always telling me about how your uncle is always on some 'international' business trip."

"Oh," I replied dumbly. "How do you know all these things about me?"

"Your face is on People and Us Weekly magazine every week," she said bored. "How can you stand having every minute of your life being chronicled by paparazzi?"

"I don't know…I guess I'm just so used to already…"

After a few minutes of silence, I thought I heard heavy breathing and looked to my right to find Raven sleeping on the right arm of the couch with a peaceful look on her face.

Wasn't it weird how all these things happened all at the same time, one after another? Right after mom and dad were found murdered, Kami ran away from home, thus leaving me guardian-less until I find out I have this long lost uncle whom of which I only see twice a year.

Sighing, I pondered to myself. There was something odd about the people in my life…coming and going, sometimes never to be seen again. The gust of wind that suddenly came through the window gave me chills, and it was almost as if I could feel myself being swept way into the Twilight Zone or something…

Coming and going…and it always happened to the ones I loved most; it was almost as if someone knew every one of my weaknesses…

Two more hours passed as I tossed and turned under my comforter, and I was starting to think I was some kind of freaky night owl. There was this odd clicking noise, and I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or if it was real. Sighing in frustration, I hopped out of my sheets and made my way to my bedroom door and downstairs, careful not to wake anybody.

Dark and still, I felt like a stranger in my own house. I tried to find the nearest light switch, feeling the walls in the blinding darkness. There was that clicking sound suddenly, and I saw a tiny flash of light flickering on and off in the kitchen.

I jumped when I heard a voice speak suddenly. "My master's been waiting for you, Anders." It sounded so familiar…

"Who are you?" I said as I tried to sound as fearless as possible. My hand met one of the main light switches, and when I didn't work on my first try, I pounded it several times.

A snicker emerged from one corner of the kitchen. "Power's out, Cutie. No can do."

"Red-X? What brings you to my home? What do you want from me?" The fire from the lighter stopped going on and off, and the air was still until-

A gloved hand clapped onto my mouth, and I felt a rugged voice breathing against my ear. The lighter suddenly lit centimeters before my face, and I winced as the fire began inching its way toward my eyes, making me a drop of sweat roll down my cheek.

"Who's going to save you _now_?" he sneered wickedly.

I was about to fight back against his grasp when something hard banged forcefully on my head, and I fell to my knees instantly.

"Master, I have the girl. I'll be on my way there soon," said Red-X into a communicator.

"Good," came a familiar voice, which was starting to sound even more and more distant by the ticking seconds. "Take all the weapons you can find…I know for a fact that her moronic Uncle trades overseas."

The black walkie-talkie fell to the floor as I heard X's footsteps disappearing into my searing headache. I was close to losing my consciousness, but before I did, the last thing I heard was a crackling noise coming from the communicator.

"I think it's time my best apprentice proved his loyalty to us." The man's voice sounded as sinister and cold as a rock.

I didn't even have time to know what to think of the words that had just come out of the communicator. All of my surroundings surrendered to the darkness.

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**A/N: Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hello! I want to thank everybody for all the reviews!**

**I'm starting a sequel to this story called _Full Moon _! **

**I don't want to ruin the ending for this story, so I'll give you the summary of it in the last chapter. Yup, this story is beginning to wind down; there'll probably be three or four more chapters left to write, so read on!

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**

The cold floor began to feel even more bitter and icy as I felt my body being dragged against the tiles. I felt the strong hands around my wrist loosen their grip as I fell with a thud to the floor, wincing from the bright light that was suddenly switched on.

I tried sitting up, suddenly feeling as though I had been beaten up. I looked at my surroundings. Where was I?

Suddenly, a shadow emerged from one of the dark corners of the room. A muscular figure was walking my way, their footsteps making the room shake.

"Don't be scared," a male voice came. Come to think of it, it almost sounded like that one guy-

"V-Victor?" I asked incredulously. His normally grim face was friendly and worried at the same time. On instinct, I backed away from him, intimidated. "Stay away from me," I said fiercely. Bringing his hand out from behind his back, I cringed, expecting the impact of a gun. Instead, when I opened my eyes, his hand was offered out to me.

Hesitantly, I took it and stood up, my bones feeling as weak as ever. As soon as I was able to stand on my feet with them trembling, I asked confusedly, "Why are you helping me?"

"Richard's orders. I mean, I don't usually do what he tells me, but he was pretty serious about you not getting hurt."

"But why- eeek!"

He pulled me quickly into a dark corner as a pair of footsteps came around the corner. "I'm supposed to be bringing you to another room on the ship. There'll be a guard watching you before the boss comes in."

His strong grip on my arm loosened as he flung me into…a library? Everything looked so…elegant. A piano in the corner, shelves and shelves of books…

I spotted a small circular window on the wall and gazed out the window, expecting myself to be in a warehouse. But as I gazed out the window, I trembled. Something was wrong.

There wasn't a single patch of grass anywhere…where the hell was I? Instead, I was staring at the blue waters of what was probably the Pacific Ocean.

I looked up at the sky again. The sunlight was swiftly moving out and clouds were racing in to reclaim its place. I concentrated on it being cloudy and suddenly the sunlight vanished behind a massive black rain cloud about twice the size of Jump City.

Jump City was already big. And this cloud was even bigger.

I walked uncomfortably towards a chair and sat myself down on it, well aware that two eyes were following my every move. Taking a book from a nearby shelf, I flipped through it restlessly, trying get myself interested in it.

I turned around to find none other than Xavier himself standing in front of the doorway with his arms crossed, dressed in the suit of Red-X.

I felt stupid for not knowing all along. Who else lacked enough class to call you "Cutie" instead of your real name?

"Hey Princess," he said slyly. He walked towards the chair across from me, but strolled right past it, missing it completely as he began to circle my chair. Staring stiff, I concentrated one of the paintings plastered onto the wall, which just so happened to the most hideous thing I had ever seen. "Long time, no see."

"I should've known," I muttered lifelessly, as if I cared less that I had no idea where I was.

I stood up abruptly; his hands were reaching for me. Glancing out from the corner of my eyes, I walked over to the piano and began to play a song.

"C'mon, Kori, be easy."

I jumped when I realized how close he was to me. His husky voice left me in a trance as his breath tickled my ear…it was so much like Richard's…

My hands fell from the keys, because the next thing I knew his lips were slightly brushing my ear as he spoke. "Be easy…"

After that it was all a blur. Suddenly I felt his lips crashing onto mine as he hungrily grazed my lips, but the thing that frightened me was…that I wasn't doing anything about it. I was kissing him back.

This was wrong, this was all so wrong…

All I could see in the back of my mind was…him. Richard's face flashed in my mind a couple of times. I watched him have a make out fest with Babs everyday at lunch the past week. I was supposed to have my own revenge…right? So why was it that I couldn't stop that feeling of guilt from coming into my head?

I pushed Xavier away from me abruptly, making him fall off the piano bench. It wasn't until then did I realize that we had gotten carried away for a second, because I found myself gasping for air as I tried to say, "I-I…I can't do this."

Instead of understanding, he gave me the worst glare I had ever seen. "It's him, isn't it? It's always him!"

"Listen, I'm really sorry Xavier, but-"

He grabbed my wrists hard, making me feel the pain swelling. I yelped in pain and stomped my foot down on top of his, making him release his grip on me. I wasn't even aware of what I was doing until I saw red handprint swelling on his right cheek, and realized that my hand was throbbing in pain.

I backed away suddenly, but he caught up to me quickly. His strong hands on my shoulders, I felt myself getting thrown against the glass bookcase, falling into the shattered pieces of glass. I eyed a counter and tried to set myself upright, only to have him shove me back down.

That same feeling I had when I was on top of the bridge was back in my stomach.

Why was he in such a rage? All I did was refuse to kiss him…

A voice came from his communicator, interrupting the eerie silence in the room. "Xavier," came that same cold, hard tone. "Are you finished yet? I'm getting impatient."

"Yes, Master Slade." He looked down scornfully at me.

I had to admit, I was one pathetic sight. Looking in the mirror in front of me, I had bruises the size of baseballs on my arms and wrists, and a shard of glass was stuck in my right arm. My long red hair was strewn across my face in my sweat, and I was slouched against the counter, breathless.

"Then come now. He's ready to do it. And make sure she's weak."

My eyes widened. I was sent in here to be weakened enough for them to make sure I was able to escape. But what was supposed to happen next? I had never felt so sick to my stomach in my life, the feeling of utter weakness was getting to me.

"Don't worry, Master. I've made sure of that already."

The signal went out and he took my arm and pulled me up. "Come with me."

As we walked out of the room and into the hallway, I stared at him intensely. His chiseled features looked sinister and cold, but there was something in his eyes that didn't convince me that he really wanted to do this.

"What are you staring at?" he said.

"Why do you want to be like them? Why would you want to…_kill_ people?" I tried to sound as strong as I could, even though the pain in my arm was almost unbearable.

"I have no other choice. I've never been good at anything else other than-"

"-Slicing a dagger through someone's throat? Yeah, it takes real skill to do that," I spat out distastefully.

"Listen, you don't even know the half of-"

"And what does this so-called 'Master' of yours want with me?"

"His name is Slade, and ask him yourself," he said coldly.

I hadn't realized that we had come to a certain door until he stopped walking all of a sudden. Turning the knob open, he shoved me in through the door and followed me in. I found myself in a pleasant looking room. The weird thing was though, that it looked exactly like the other room, except for the fact that there were people inside this time.

There stood Babs in a leather body suit, one of the most disgusting, revealing things I had ever seen. Terra Markov smirked heavily beside her in a black jumpsuit with steel-toed shoes and shoulder pads, with a serious faced Jinx standing by her as well. Victor's face was hard and cold, but his eyes held a look of nervousness and alert.

By the look on his face, things had obviously not gone the way they were supposed to.

I cursed under my breath for a moment until I realized that they were all staring at me viciously.

"Hello, Ms. Anders. We've been expecting you."

A figure came into the light, revealing man in a steel mask, half orange with a little eye slit, and the other half blank and black. Steel seemed to appeal to this guy. The spiked shoulder pads, steel-toed shoes, and shined belt gave it away. I figured this must have been the "Master".

"Is this about my money?" I surprised myself with my fierce tone.

But he only laughed, making me even angrier than I already was. "Silly girl, you are far more important than your insignificant riches, though I do have to admit that your fortune was the reason we were after you in the first place."

"B-but why did you bring me here then?" I stammered.

If he wasn't after my money, then what did he want with me? As far as I was concerned, there was nothing special about me.

"You have your sister to thank for that. She had been roaming the streets for a month until I decided to take her in. Her anger towards you was one of the fiercest I had ever seen between any two sisters, and it only took her less than a second to decide what she wanted for you…death."

The way he spat out the last word made my mouth fall to the ground. Koma wanted me…dead? My own sister?

Tears swam in my eyes as hard as I tried to keep fighting them.

I wasn't going to be weak, I wasn't going to be weak…

"B-but why? Why did she want me…_dead_?"

He laughed. That heartless creature just laughed, like I had just told a joke or something. "You are aware that your parents left you a large fortune after their death when you were just five. She wanted that money… more badly than you think."

I looked around the room, suddenly conscious of the pairs of eyes boring into my face. I knew that every one of them, except for Victor of course, loved seeing me this way. I felt so fragile right then, like anything was going to break me.

"But you haven't answered my question yet, why did you bring me here? What importance am I of to you?"

"I think you fail to realize that there's something special about you."

"And what is that?" I was ready to totally kill this guy; I think the pain in my arm was making me delirious. I could've sworn I had heard the voice before, but where?

"Richard's told me all about you," he said with a sneer. "Like how trouble always seems to come to you no matter how hard you try to fight it, and how he can never pry into your thoughts even though he can read even the most complex minds. You've even managed to weaken my best agents without even realizing it," he said as he looked towards Xavier's suddenly guilty face.

He sent them one of the most chilling glares, dismissing them from the room. Once they were all gone, he turned his attention back to me, and I could feel a smirk coming across his face underneath that mask of his. If only I could see his face…

"-He's here," came Xavier's voice hastily as he peered into the door. His tone made me even more nervous than I already was. He made it seem like he _meant_ to interrupt his boss from doing something.

I was glad.

But that feeling vanished quickly when Xavier took one last look at me through the open door as it closed. Trying not to make it myself seem weak, I tried to hold my quick breaths in. It was practically impossible though, considering that I was about to die within a couple of minutes…

"You know too much about us, Korina…"

All of a sudden I didn't feel so comfortable alone with this guy.

I stayed silent.

"And," he continued in that stone cold voice of his, "I don't whether I want to keep you alive or not, my dear."

My head hurt all of a sudden.

"Luckily, that isn't my decision."

My heart sighed with relief. But something deep down told me that this wasn't over yet; that there was still something wrong.

It turned out my instincts were right.

"For I have someone else to do that for me, isn't that right, my apprentice?" he sneered evily.

Suddenly a dark figure emerged from the shadows, walking slowly. He came to the light; only then did I realize how dim it was inside the room. I felt a vibe that I thought I knew, but this guy had mask on that covered every inch of his face.

Could I be Xavier? Was that why I felt that sense of familiarity?

"Show her your face," Slade demanded. "I want her to remember the last face she saw."

But the guy suddenly dropped his arms, as if he suddenly became weak. "I can't…I can't let her see."

"Take off the mask!" he yelled, and I could swear I felt the ship tremble. I was even more frightened now.

"Fine! I'll take it off if you leave the room while I do it," the apprentice yelled forcefully, and I thought I saw Slade take a tiny step back.

"Very well."

He took long strides to the door, his metal shoes tapping against the glass floor. Before he closed the door from the other side of the wall, he paused for a moment and said in a vicious voice, as if he was hungry for blood.

"You know what to do."

The door finally slammed, and I was left alone, standing in front of the guy who was about to have my blood.

"Who are you?" I whispered. For some reason I drew closer and closer to him. I knew him…

"I can't…" His voice sounded weak.

"X-…Xavier?" Hope rose in my voice. Why?

"I wish it was too."

I closed my eyes in frustration, my head aching from all the pain in my body. "Then…then why do I feel like I've been around you before?"

"Because you have…many times…" His velvety soft voice melted my heart like it usually did around him…

…My eyes widened.

Then it dawned on me.

It couldn't be him, it just couldn't be…

I felt tears swimming in my eyes, now wide, with no mercy at all. "Tell me who you are…tell me now!"

In my frustration I lunged for the mask, but he took it off before my hand even flung into the air towards. And when it fell to the ground, I found myself wishing that I were already dead.

For before me were a pair of icy blue eyes, staring back at me with something that I couldn't decipher for once.

And I didn't want to.

"What do we do now?" His weak voice made me weak as well. I could feel the crease in my heart begin to deepen.

Tears fell down upon my cheeks as I stared back at him, now noticing the pistol in his hand. Was it my time to leave the world now, just when I had found security, just as I began to feel content with myself…just before I had found the best feeling in the world, love?

A string of hurt and betrayal hung in between us, and I wasn't sure I was strong enough to answer his question, because for the first time since we had met, I had trouble meeting those blue eyes of his.

"Nothing," I whispered hoarsely, my voice breaking twice. "We do…nothing."

And he raised his right arm, pistol in hand. His fingers were on the trigger, and I could tell he was fighting the urge to stop. But I didn't think about how much time I had left on Earth. I just stared into his eyes and thought about him.

I felt my heart pound one more time.

A gunshot rang in my ears.

There was no more hope.

**

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A/N: ****I'm starting a sequel to this story called _Full Moon _! **

**I don't want to ruin the ending for this story, so I'll give you the summary of it in the last chapter. Yup, this story is beginning to wind down; there'll probably be three or four more chapters left to write, so read on!**

xXxXxXxXxXx

**By the way, did anyone else watch the Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo movie? Omg, that was the best movie ever! There were so many RobStar moments in there! (I don't want to spoil it for the people who haven't seen it yet!)**

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**BUY THE DVD! **

**Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

Time.

It waits for no one.

I braced myself, waiting for the impact of the bullet. But I think that this Time made an exception for me. Just me.

I realized this when I saw the bullet aiming towards me, coming straight for my forehead and instead of plummeting in through my skin, I felt a tiny breeze whiz past my ear. I felt all this in half a millisecond.

I heard something clink against one of the pipes. I hadn't moved an inch since he pulled the trigger.

He didn't shoot me. Was he really thinking of doing it, just to fit in with the rest of those murderers? Or did he just change his mind just now?

All of a sudden I felt my knees weakening, buckling down beneath me. I fell down to my knees, sobbing silently, and I watched the gun land on the cold metal floor.

"We have to get out of here," he said. His voice still wasn't the strong tone I remembered. "I just shot the main pipe; the ship is already starting to let water in."

He took out his phone and touched the pad. "I need a plane right now…I've given you our coordinates, so that should be enough." He hung up and turned away from me, ashamed. When he finally faced me, he opened his mouth. I continued to look down.

What had just happened? Was this all part of some kind of plan?

The door slammed open, and in burst four agents, smirking happily. But the smiles quickly faded when they saw me in a small corner of the room with ocean water rising up to my shins.

Babs looked the most shocked at first, probably wondering why Richard had chosen to spare me in the first place. Her eyes remained wide with surprise and anger. "Master! Come down quick!"

And then after that all the blood came out. The four attacked him instantly, kicked him around from left to right mercilessly. He started out strong, but soon the four began to overpower him slowly, and I began to panic.

"Kori, leave now!" he yelled, his blue eyes sending me a panicking message.

But I stood my ground, even though I happened to be as weak as ever, my legs trembling. "No! I'm not leaving without you!"

He grunted loudly as I watched Xavier send a fist flying into his face. "Kori, get out of here!"

All of a sudden I felt someone's heel coming in contact with my back, sending me screaming in agony as I feel into the water, which was now reaching up to my knees.

Babs.

I snaked my hand underneath the water and pulled her down with me on my knees in the water, sending her panting in a coughing fit. Getting up to my feet quickly, I ran over to Richard.

Where was Victor?

Richard threw Xavier forcefully towards the wall, sending him crashing into Babs and Jinx and knocking them unconscious. Terra's skinny, bony body was already lying on the floor energy less, probably because of her lack of food. He motioned for me to get outside as he slammed the door shut.

He took my arm and ran through the halls of the ship, leaving me panting behind him. "We have to get to the deck. Victor's on his way with a plane."

We reached the deck, but the water was already taking over the boat drastically. Normally I would've danced at the clear sight of the night sky, but I chose this particular time to stay silent.

I stared up at the dark skies, wishing that anybody would come soon, just as long as it meant not having to see Richard. I didn't know what to say to him, not yet.

I began to hear the buzzing of propellers above me, and I sighed with relief. Finally, I was going home.

"Alive, I see? I think all that will change in just a moment."

I felt my heart sink as I turned around to find Slade standing in the middle of the emergency motorboat as it floated just inches away from where we were standing. Time seemed to stand still between the three of us, and quickly I felt Richard's hand take hold of mine protectively. Still holding my grudge against him, I slipped my entwined fingers from his.

But Richard grabbed my hand tightly again, clenching his teeth. This time I didn't let go. "If you hurt her, I swear I'm going to-"

"What makes you think I will hurt someone as special as her, Richard? Surely you know that I would be better than that." For a minute he sounded sincere, and I kept my eye on him as he stared back at us.

But…wait…why was his right arm hidden behind his back…

"Then again," he continued, and I could imagine an evil smirk underneath that mask of his, "You didn't follow my orders. I guess I'll just have to kill your little girlfriend myself then."

By this time, guns weren't strangers to me anymore, but the way he quickly pointed it towards me told me that something bad was going to happen, that this time Slade wouldn't wait as long for me to be dead.

In a flash a bullet was coming towards my throat. This time I didn't waste my time taking in my surroundings. I let out a piercing scream instead, only hearing Richard yelling my name.

Moments later I opened my eyes, only to find the trail of rippling water that Slade had left as the motorboat disappeared off in the distance. Putting my hand on my throat, I tried to feel for any blood…but there wasn't a drop anywhere.

My eyes widened when it hit me. I gasped, holding a hand to my heart.

Looking down, I found Richard unconscious, the right side of his chest covered in blood. His beautiful face looked peaceful, not a drop of blood on it. Tears came to my eyes, and I could not stop them from flowing down my cheeks. Silently, I laid my head on his arm and sobbed into his chest.

I could feel the propellers of the airplane powering up enough wind to make me have to grasp onto Richard's shirt.

The plane landed in the water, floating safely. "Kori, what happened?" came Victor's voice as he came running towards me as I lay with a slightly bloody Richard.

"I don't know," I said, my voice croaking hoarsely.

"We have to get him to the plane immediately; there's a doctor on board."

My droopy eyes remained open as I felt four hands carrying me into the plane, and even with my face buried deep into Richard's arm, I could tell that the boat was already close to sinking completely as the feet splashed water on my skin as they ran us through the open doors.

I heard Richard groan, and I held on tighter to his shirt. "Kori, I'll be fine. Just," he said, pausing as he winced from the pain, "Just trust me."

"Okay," I whispered. My open eyes made it only past the doors of the plane.

The last thing I could remember were Richard's cool hands prying my fingers loose from his shirt as we were at last being separated.

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**A/N: This is one of my shorter chapters, as you can probably tell. Please review, and I'll try to update a lot quicker too!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Kori."

"I don't want to talk, Richard," I mumbled, pulling the blanket over my head.

"Uh, Kori? This ain't Richard. But if you want to say that to his face, I was just about to tell you that he's awake and wants to see you."

My eyes went wide at once as I jumped out from the white couch I had been sleeping on, fumbling over my mistake. "Victor?"

He only stared at me with a smirk and raised eyebrow, making me blush even more than I already was.

A part of me wanted to run over to the room Richard was resting in, kiss him, and forget everything that had happened. But I soon came back to my senses, or at least I thought I did, and I realized that it was going to take more than just "forgive and forget." After all, how weak did he think I was?

Crossing my arms stubbornly over my legs, which were up against my chest, I looked away and dug my head into my arms. "Tell him that I'm not talking to him and that I'm _not_ leaving this couch," I said as fiercely as I could, but I think it only came out as a weak mumble.

"I guess I'll have to come to you then."

"Richard," I said stiffly. Hs name burned my throat a little on the way out. I could feel the ghost of the hole, waiting to rip itself wide open again as soon as he disappeared. I didn't quite see how I would survive it this time.

Immediately my head went up and I lifted my eyes to meet Richard's fixed gaze on me. His left arm was in a sling, and underneath his white shirt, which I might add was totally see-through, the left side of his chest was bandaged, where stains of blood bled through the thick gauze. He walked to the couch, not limping at all.

"Go away."

I could hear him resting himself beside me as I kept my eyes lowered, and I turned my body around, so I was completely facing away from him.

Silence hung in the air along with hurt and betrayal. I think we were both desperate to hear something from one another signaling that we were okay.

He sighed. "You don't have to say anything, Kori. I…I just want you to listen to me."

"Fine," I muttered emotionlessly, but inside I could almost feel my heart ripping apart.

"I hope you don't think I like this, me putting you in danger…I would never have forgiven myself if I had gone through with the mission."

"But why?" I pleaded. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't even believe I was going to in the first place. I was really going to kill you, shot you until I had no more bullets left."

I couldn't keep my eyes off Richard's face for long. Fighting the urge to give into him, I whirled around, facing him and putting my hand over his. "But why didn't you do it?"

"He was right. Slade…was right- I'm pathetic," he said weakly as he looked down shamefully. "I couldn't carry on with the mission."

Oh god. I could feel it- I was starting to fall straight into his trap.

_I will not give in, I will not give in…._

"You're not…if you were then I wouldn't be here with you right now."

I stared at him, wishing more than anything that the future would never happen. That this moment would last forever.

Richard stared right back at me, his dark eyes soft, and it was easy to pretend that he felt the same way. So that's what I did. I pretended to make the moment sweeter.

It was quiet again, and this time I knew that neither of us could do anything about all the hurt that was left hanging.

"Why did you do it?" I whispered soft enough for me to hear. But it reached him.

"Do what?"

Our heads began to pull closer and closer towards each other, and with no memory of it at all, I found our hands held together, our fingers entwined.

"How could you sacrifice yourself for…_ me_? It was because you had to, isn't it?" I asked, close to tears. "Was I really worth it?" I turned my head away, ashamed for him to see the salty tears that were now running down my cheeks.

But when he said nothing, I stood up and walked to the window that overlooked the puffy clouds. He turned around to face me, and I felt ashamed to let him see my eyes gleaming with tears. Slowly, I bent my head down, but he tilted my chin up just enough for him to look me in the eye.

"Don't be ridiculous." He sighed; his sweet breath caressed my face. "I saved you because I wanted to."

A tiny smile formed on my face as we made our way back to the couch, while I lay down with my head in his lap. It stayed like that for the rest of the way back home. Richard seemed perfectly content to hold me in his arms, his fingers tracing my face again and again. I touched his face, too. I couldn't stop myself, though I was afraid it would hurt me later, when I was alone. He continued to kiss my hair, my forehead, my wrists…but never my lips, which was driving me insane. But after all, how many ways can one heart be mangled and still be expected to be beating?

But when he stopped for a moment I gazed up at him, and something still told me that I hadn't convinced Richard to fully forgive himself yet, because there was still ice deep in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," came his solemn reply, and he held me even tighter.

My eyes were slowly beginning to feel heavier and I guess somewhere along the way I fell asleep…

_

* * *

His black hair shone in the dawning sunlight, and his blue eyes seemed to stare me down beautifully. His features were so godly and divine, yet in the simplest, flattering form possible._

"_Kori, come to me," he called in the sweet, husky voice I loved so much._

_I ran to him, ran to him until I thought I could feel my lungs burst and quenching for oxygen. Different faces popped in every direction I looked in, and I had to fight harder to push through the crowd. _

_Any other time I would have considered myself lucky to get a peek at his sculpted face, but this time he had an expression of betrayal, and the word "traitor" lingered in his blue eyes, now changed from icy blue to a shade of blue so dark that it could be mistaken for black._

_I wanted to come to him; didn't he understand that from the way I was fighting so hard if that meant getting at least an inch closer to him?_

_My legs moved slower and slower as I fought way through the callous crowd, but the hands on the tall clock tower didn't seem to slow down like I was. _

_And then it happened._

_He extended hand was let down in lost hope, and he stared at me as the crowd pulled me back sadly._

_The restless sun began to set between two peaks by now, and something forced me to look at the blinding twilight twinkling off in the distance. But when I looked back there was nothing left._

_No clock tower._

_No crowd._

_And soon I realized that he was gone as well.

* * *

_

Gasping, I sat upright, and for a minute I wasn't sure if I was still dreaming or if something had really happened.

Richard kept me tight in his arms. Inside the gray blanket wrapped around him I was warm and comfortable. More than comfortable.

"You can sleep now, Kori," he murmured. "It's over."

So I closed my eyes. But I still couldn't help that that it was heaven- right smack in the middle of hell.

* * *

**A/N: This story is nearing its end! Thee is only one more chapter left and an epilogue, but that'll probably be it. Anyway, please review! I 3 you guys!**


	14. Chapter 14

It had only been a day since we returned, and already I couldn't wait for Graduation Day. It was the last day of my last year of high school. I had to admit that I was going to miss everybody that I had befriended, but I wasn't too worried.

Raven and I were applying for the same college, the well-known Gotham University that almost everyone in the country wanted to get into. Gar and Victor, as I had found out earlier, had already gotten accepted into another nearby university. Richard was the only one who had not told me his plans yet.

It was the night before Graduation Day. I know. HUGE. The only thing I was worried about was the fact that my arm was going to look bulky because of the bandages from my injury. Raven, who I had invited over for the night, and I, were sitting on my bed watching Grey's Anatomy, the show that we both found ourselves obsessing over.

"Are you sure you're not going to go downstairs and go missing on me for a whole three days like the last time you invited me to spend the night?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

I scrambled through my head for excuses. "It was an…um…important matter. I had some issues with some friends I had to deal with."

"Okay…" She went back to drooling over the TV.

I sighed. It was great to be back home. At least for the meanwhile, that was. The show was over after an hour, and we tuned in to the news.

I heard a noise against my window, something Raven was apparently too busy watching to notice. Opening the balcony door, I didn't find anything other than the large oak tree I was used to seeing leaning towards the balcony on my right side. Still outside, I took a quick look at the TV.

"…And even greater news- one of our city's greatest heroes, Robin, has come back after almost a year and a half since his disappearance last year. He was last seen coming out of a fire with having rescued more than five citizens. Welcome back Robin, and this time we hope that you're here to stay…"

My eyes went wide at once and I burst in laughter. It had only been a day since we had arrived home from our lost time at sea and he was being welcomed by the city. My arm was still bandaged from that shard of glass that had been stuck that day on the ship.

"What's so funny? I thought you'd be proud that I've changed for the good now."

Gasping, I quickly turned my head to the direction of that sweet velvety voice to find Richard squatting on the thin rail of my balcony in a new uniform and mask, and immediately a smile came to my face.

Giggling, my eyes brightened. "I didn't think you would change your mind so quickly."

"Kori, who are you talking to? Is somebody out there?" came Raven's voice. I could hear her footsteps coming…

Great. What would she think when she saw Robin, Jump City's own superhero, just inches away from me? Frantically, I yelled back, "Um, not really, it's just-"

"-Boy Wonder's back, huh? I saw you on the news, Richard." She gave him a smirk while she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, but it didn't take her very long to give him a look of sympathy.

I should have known better that Raven didn't _do_ surprises.

"What are you planning?" she asked suspiciously him, but in a way that made her seem…scared and uncertain. She looked back and forth between us, and then stared once more at Richard, who was looking down at the ground.

What was going on between them? Immediately my thoughts went to the worst possible ideas. Were they planning to backstab me or something of that sort? Was there something going on between them that I didn't know about? All of a sudden I could feel myself getting even more and more irritated and impatient.

I raised my eyes crossly. "Should I stay or do you two want to be alone?"

Raven backed off instantly. "No, it's okay…I'll leave." She ran for the door and slammed it shut.

I stormed to the opposite side of the balcony with Richard trailing after me. Suddenly I felt him pulling my arm back gently, taking me into where he was standing.

"It's not what you think."

"Is there something going on between you two?" I asked, fearful of what he might say next. My bare feet felt cold against the white marble floor all of a sudden.

We stood in the middle of the large terrace. It surprised me how close we were all of a sudden; our noses were practically touching. I could feel my knees begin to buckle, and I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be able to keep myself standing with all the intensity between us.

With his hand he cupped my cheek gently, bringing me even closer as his sweet breath caressed my face. "It's nothing…I just don't want you to forget me."

My eyes suddenly went from nervous to confused. "Why are changing the subject? And besides, why would I-"

Before I knew it he had pulled me into a deep kiss, embracing me tightly. We grazed our each other's lips hungrily, as if we were thirsty for one another. In the heat of the passion I couldn't help running my fingers through his disheveled hair, and I could feel his soft fingers going through mine. The crackling of our lips was the only sound entering my ear. Richard sighed a hot breath onto my lips and we continued to deepen our kiss. Soon I found myself leaning against the rail, one arm holding me tightly against him and another hand behind my head.

But a siren began to ring out, and sadly, I broke the kiss, both of us gasping for air.

"You should go. People need you," I said softly, giving him a tiny, understanding smile.

He stared at me with sudden sadness, as if he was yearning for something that was out of his reach. "I'll see you, Kori." With that, he hopped down from my balcony, and fell two stories, landing smoothly on his two feet.

Bewildered at what had just happened, I went inside and rested myself on my bed. I put a finger to my lips, and I could still feel my heart beating madly.

"U-um, Raven? You could come in now," I called.

Storming into the room, she looked at me expectantly. "What did he say? Did he hurt you?"

I looked at her, knowing fully that I was showing a lot of uncertainty in my eyes. "No."

For the rest of the night, we sat in silence, just staring at the TV with nothing else to do. By one'o clock we wound down and prepared to go to sleep, which was earlier than we usually did whenever she slept over. Finally though, she spoke up.

"Nothing happened."

Turning over, I sat upright. "What?"

"On the balcony," she said monotonously. "Nothing happened. I just felt so much remorse running through him that it made me wonder what he felt so guilty about."

"Oh," was all I could say, and after that we turned the lights out. But I still couldn't forget what Richard had said to me.

'…I don't want you to forget me.'

I couldn't help but ponder about all the possibilities he might have been talking about. Did he just say that in the spur of the moment? Or was it because Graduation Day just so happened to be less than 24 hours away? Something told me that not a thing had gone back to normal since we returned from our adventure at sea, and that it was not about to change anytime soon.

* * *

"Kori, I need the hairbrush!"

Frantically reaching for the brush, I tossed it towards Raven, who was still straightening her hair more than it already was.

The alarm clock had been set to the wrong time. Which meant that we were totally thrown off the time schedules we had set for our makeup, hair, everything. I took the rollers on top of my head off, letting my red hair down to reveal loose rippling waves spiraling down my shoulder.

"Eye shadow brush, please!" I called.

Without looking, I caught the tiny brush that Raven had thrown towards my direction.

"Girls, you're going to be late!" came Galfore. "It starts in 20 minutes!"

We looked at each other in horror. "Coming!" we yelled in unison.

Two trips over our long white graduation robes later, we were ready and settled in the car. The ceremony was taking place on an island not far from the shores of Jump City, and it was connected to the city by a narrow bridge that extended about a mile or two. When we arrived, plopping ourselves down in our assigned seats, the principal was already getting ready to begin hosting.

"Welcome students and honorable guests. We are here today to celebrate the end of one chapter in their lives, and to welcome the new journey that awaits them. I am honored to have worked with such fine students…"

My principal's voice drifted off in my head as I searched for my friends. Garfield and Victor were sitting side by side two rows ahead of us, and looking to the side, I tried to smother a laugh as I saw Richard and Roy sitting next to each other a few seats down from me, both stiff with rigid looks on their faces. I forgot how much they hated each other.

The ceremony wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Of course, I felt that feeling of accomplishment when I walked up onto the stage and shook hands with our mayor, who handed me my diploma. But after awhile, the feeling withered away in the cool breeze that kept on sweeping past me. Something was wrong, I knew I could feel it coming, but the thing that bugged me the most was the fact that I couldn't understand what it was.

There were times when I felt Richard's stare lingering in my direction, but whenever I turned to look back at him, he would look another way. At the end of the ceremony, he brushed passed me, not even bothering to look back.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Raven asked, nudging me gently.

I looked at her, my eyes lowered to the ground. What could I say? Deep down I felt like something horrid was coming for me. I couldn't prevent what I couldn't predict…

I put on a fake smile on my face, something that I've sadly practiced many times before. "No! Everything's totally fine, really," I said almost too cheerfully.

She gave me one last look as we hopped into the car along with her mother. "If you say so," she said, but I knew she didn't believe any of the phony acting I had tried to pull off. But I knew, like the good friend she was, that she didn't want to force out anything I didn't want to talk about…

…Although for some reason I found myself secretly hoping that she would some time soon.

* * *

The graduation's after party was chaotic. I wasn't kidding.

It took place on the fifty-third floor at the Wayne Enterprises Hotel. Richard had organized the whole thing, and almost every senior I knew showed up. The dress code was supposed to be a shirt and tie for guys, and semiformal dresses for girls. Richard was still giving me the silent treatment, which didn't matter anyway since he wasn't anywhere in sight. It was beginning to bug the hell out of me. I sat in one corner of the room, my hands in my lap, while everyone else was either dancing or making out.

I spotted Raven's face in the crowd and naively glad to see her face, I pushed my way through people until I reached her. My mouth dropped in awe when I got close to her. There she was, sitting on Garfield's lap, as they were both in the middle of a lip lock. This was really out of character for her.

'Great,' I thought to myself, 'Even a Goth girl was having more fun than me at what was supposed to be the best party ever.'

Trying not to interrupt them, I back away slowly. By the time I got myself out of the crowd, I went back to my little corner by the punch bowl. It wasn't until I felt like even more of a loser when Kitten, the snobby girl from English class, "accidentally" spilled a cup of water on my satin black dress.

"Oops," she said, a nasty smirk on her face, "My bad. Don't worry, though- that dress looked really bad on you anyways."

Without thinking, I picked up a nearby piece of cake that was within my reach, and squashed it on her pink dress, which was way too short for her own good.

Shrieking, she looked at me in horror. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She screamed again, this time hoping to get more attention from the dancing crowd. Not one person who stared looked sorry for her.

Although I knew it was wrong, I was practically smiling on the inside. But the feeling wore off soon, so I put on a calm face and smirked lightly. I decided she wasn't worth causing too much of a scene over. "Don't worry about it," I said with a murderous stare. "That dress makes you look sluty anyways." Screaming once more, she ran to the bathroom, her pathetic posse following after her.

Considering everything that had happened in this long day, I knew I had already had enough. How was it that I was the only one not having fun? I sighed and took one last quick glance at people on the dance floor, and then ran through the exit doors.

**

* * *

A/N: OmG, you guys! I'm so sad tear because the next chapter is the last one for this story! But I've been working on a sequel to this story called When the Full Moon Strikes. Please read it!**

**Also much love to all my reviewers from the last chapter! I 3 you guys!**

**Review please!**


	15. Chapter 15

Who ever knew that roofs were such good sanctuaries? It must have been an hour since I had ditched the party, which happened to be taking place just below me. It was odd, though, because I couldn't hear any of the music at all. It was so...quiet. I still wondered why Richard had not showed up to his own party.

There I sat, in the middle of the roof. I looked at all of the nightlife happening below me. A couple making out on a bench, little boutiques on the block beginning to close one at a time, a young girl walking her dog…I would have killed to be one of them.

My eyelids threatened to close at that moment, and without thinking, I stood up without thinking and walked to the edge of the building until my toes were off the building. Any other time I would have been scared to death, but for some reason all of my problems with Richard seemed to cloud my judgment.

I stood there, my arms spread out and my feet pressed together. No, I wasn't about to commit suicide or anything. I just loved the feeling of freedom, because as weird as it sounded, nothing had never felt so liberating than standing on the edge of a 43-story building.

I smiled softly to myself, finally thinking I was at peace, inhaling slowly until…

"Kori, don't do it! Don't jump!" came somebody's voice, worried and angry at the same time.

"What are you talking about-"

I turned around quickly to find Richard in the form of Robin, the familiar mask hiding his blue eyes, running towards me with a scared look on his face. But I had whipped my head around too fast, because I was losing my balance. I began to wobble on my feet and flap my arms around wildly, but it was no use.

I was leaning more to the open air than I was toward Richard's hand.

"Richard, help!" I shrieked loudly, and soon my feet were no longer on the concrete edge, but they were falling with the rest of my body.

I was going to die.

I kept on repeating this in my head until a hand grasped onto mine with a firm grip. Richard hauled me up quickly, and carried me bridal style to a part of the roof that did have a barricade I could lean against. Short of breath, I closed my eyes and dug my head in his chiseled chest as he embraced me tightly.

When we finally pulled apart, he looked at me with a fuse of emotions running through his blue eyes. "What were thinking? Why were you trying to kill yourself, Kori?" he said loudly, his voice rising angrily.

"You think," I yelled in alarm, yet still totally unaware of how loud I was, "that I'm crazy enough to commit suicide?"

We stared each other down, both of us angry, neither of us moving. I thought I was going to melt just staring at him, with his stern features highlighted in the moonlight. His blue eyes were like magnets, so unreadable.

And then all of a sudden he gently but swiftly put his hand on the back of my head and kissed me. It felt…different. It wasn't one of those brief kisses, not one of those passionate ones, but it was one that scared me a little bit.

I gasped immediately as soon as I felt lips on mine, his tongue inside of my mouth yearning to taste every inch of me. He grazed my lips more forceful than he usually did, reckless and unsure. My heart stopped for a split second when I realized why; it was almost as if he was saying goodbye.

But I decided not to say anything to him. Ruining the moment would be idiotic of me, so I stayed quiet about it. He took me home, tucked me in, and stayed until I fell asleep.

Just before I felt myself black out, I heard his voice, low and velvety.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

My eyes fluttered open at once. I looked at the clock, the sunshine streaming through the open balcony doors. It was only nine o'clock. Usually I was too lazy to wake up on my own like this, even with an alarm clock right by side. But something prompted me to wake up.

I decided that my first day of summer vacation before college was going to be spent with Raven. Lazily, I got out of bed and changed into a pair shorts and a t-shirt. But when I got out of the bathroom, something was different. I paused in midstep, hearing the leaves rustling just behind me.

Absentmindedly, I picked up the phone and dialed Richard's number. I hoped he wouldn't think I was beginning to get too clingy.

The phone rang at least a dozen times, which was weird because Alfred usually picked it up after the first ring. Finally someone picked up, but there was nobody on the other line; just an unfamiliar voice speaking to someone else in the background.

"Hello? Alfred, is that you?"

"I'm sorry, who?" came a woman's voice.

"Um, hi. Is Richard there?"

"Oh, you mean Mr. Grayson? I'm sorry, but he's not here anymore."

My heart stopped beating. What did she mean "anymore"? "Who is this?" I asked, not wanting to know.

"This is Caroline Fisher, I'm Mr. Wayne's realtor. Are you interested in taking a look at the house? This one was put on the market just last night."

"Do they still live there?"

"Well, actually they just-"

I slammed the phone down back on the receiver and ran down the stairs, fetching my car keys.

Going there was the only proof I was going to believe.

* * *

The old truck screeched as I made my down the neighborhood, going at over 90 miles an hour. I stomped on the brakes as soon as I was positioned on his driveway and almost fell out of the car as I stumbled to make it inside the Wayne Manor as fast as I could.

There was a red-haired woman standing outside on the front lawn who looked about thirty, holding a clipboard and talking to a man that I had never seen before. She greeted me with a smile, but one that was fake, as if she was expecting something from me. She was obviously bothered by my presence.

"Hi, I'm the girl from the phone. I'm -"

"-What exactly is it that you need from me?" she interrupted rudely. There was an annoyed snarl on her face, and she didn't even bother to look up from her clipboard. Someone obviously didn't get any sleep last night.

I had the biggest urge to slap her face right then, but then I remembered my real purpose for being there. I shook it off quickly. "Actually, I was looking for Richard, Richard Grayson. Is he here?" I asked nervously.

"Sorry, hon, but they don't live here anymore."

Fear rushed through my blood.

I had only visited the Wayne Manor once, and that was when Richard and I had gotten back from our encounter with Slade at sea. I remembered the beautiful frames and hand-painted portraits that were displayed on the wall, and the beautiful silk drapes that were hung. It was unanimously far more beautiful than my house, since nobody had the time and patience to decorate.

But as I pushed through the slightly ajar door, I saw the sweet memories of the beautiful manor literally fade away. What I saw next was a truly horrifying sight.

The furniture was gone, with the little imprints still fresh and deep into the carpet. Nails stuck out from where frames used to be, and as I rushed into the kitchen the trash had not yet been taken out, with fresh scraps of food still in it. There were pieces of a jade vase scattered on the floor, which made me realize how much of a hurry they must have been in.

There was really nothing left.

I could hear Caroline's heel's clicking against the marble floor. "So have you come to make an offer for it?" came her voice.

I turned around to face her, but her eyes were still glued to her clipboard. I was too angry to answer her. My knees were buckling, I for a split second I thought I wasn't going to breathe.

"Where is everything?" I asked, raising my voice. "What happened?"

She finally looked up at me. The suddenly stunned expression on her face was beginning to scare me. "Red hair, green eyes…" she muttered quietly to herself. She closed her eyes unhappily for a moment before looking me in the eye. "You must be Kori Anders."

"And what the hell of a difference is that supposed to make?" I growled lowly.

Her eyes widened with fright as she surrendered her hands up in the air. "I-I'm sorry…but I have been given specific orders to stay quiet."

I felt bad about threatening the woman, but if violence was the only way to get through to her, then it was something I had to do. I grabbed her shirt collar. By now my teeth were clenched and my knuckles were beginning to turn white. "Listen lady, if you don't tell me what's going on right now, then I swear I'll-"

"Okay, fine!" she cried out in despair. "At about three o'clock in the morning I received a call from Mr. Bruce Wayne himself. He said that it was urgent and that I should come immediately. When I arrived at the manor, everything was already gone; only Mr. Grayson was left waiting outside. He ordered me not to tell you anything about the move and handed me a check."

"How much did he pay you?" I asked, my voice trembling. I tried to fight back the burning tears that had begun to well up in the corners of my eyes- just as long as she was out of sight before I cried.

"Five thousand dollars."

I didn't even notice myself loosening my grip on her shirt collar. My legs gave out suddenly and I found myself sprawled on the floor with my cheeks streaked with tears. I hated the look that she had on her face, with pity in her eyes. She fled as soon as I fully released her, but I hardly noticed when she slammed the door behind her.

I sobbed freely now; I couldn't care less if the neighbors could hear me wailing from all the way down the street. The cold tiles sent shivers down my spine as I curled up in a ball, desperate to wake up and find out that I was having a nightmare.

Richard had left to get away from me. I had done something to drive him away.

He was gone, and that was all there was to it.

----

Where can I find the pieces of my broken heart?

The pieces are too far apart for me to find, and the twilight is too bright.

My unhappy life was just beginning to unfold…

* * *

**A/N: That was the last chapter of Blinding Twilight. But I'm almost done writing the first chapter of its sequel, Full Moon. Please review!**


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